Design Buy Build Issue 18 2016 | Page 64

Reggiani Lights Up The Barclaycard Arena Reggiani Lighting UK has supplied the interior and exterior luminaires for the £26 million redevelopment of the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham formerly known as the National Indoor Arena, or NIA. Lighting designers LAPD worked closely with the design team at Reggiani to come up with a scheme to provide illumination throughout the sporting and entertainment venue. All areas of the Barclaycard Arena have been touched by the redevelopment – from front of house through to backstage. The most dramatic element is a new glassfronted façade and front of house showcase which creates a dynamic arrival point for visitors, whilst iconic 20m high ‘Sky Needles’ on top of the building add to the skyline of Birmingham and light up at night. The redevelopment also includes enhanced hospitality/food and beverage offers and seven-days-a-week retail outlets which add value to the visitor experience. The flow within the Arena has been made much easier, increasing the ease of access and level of comfort. For the internal lighting Reggiani supplied Unisio surface mounted downlighters in white with 26W LEDs for entrance and concourse areas. Perfect for use in large spaces with ceiling heights of more than six metres, Reggiani’s Unisio is a highly versatile, recessed luminaire with exceptional visual comfort that is also well-suited to fixed accent lighting. Special LowLED downlights were also used on concourse levels, with medium beam LowLED downlighters and MiLED downlighters with a wide beam also installed in toilet cubicles and the arena. Sombra 26W LED 3000K asymmetric wallwashers have been employed under the mezzanine on the concourse floor. 64