dpa lighting consultants were invited by Vodafone to produce a creative exterior lighting strategy for their UK headquarters set within a rural context on the outskirts of Newbury, taking in to account the existing lighting scheme and practicalities of installing additional lighting equipment. The intention was to improve the arrival experience for visitors, by way of reinforcing the lit identity and character of the campus at night.

Following initial meetings with the Client to understand their aspirations, together with site investigations to further familiarise with the outdoor spaces and building structures, dpa identified the main architectural and landscape components that would form the basis of the strategy. A range of lighting techniques was formulated, trialled and presented to Vodafone and a selection of those confirmed to be progressed in to detailed design.

The main design focus was geared towards the tensile fabric structure of the entry conference building, which was illuminated with pole mounted metal halide luminaires with a red colour filter. Those structures that spanned between the main campus buildings were uplit with ground recessed RGB LED fixtures, controlled via a solar time clock and colour changing to a selected palette every 30 minutes.

In addition, the terracotta building cladding was uplit on the internal lake elevations only and the emergency staircase glazed enclosures were expressed with red colour sleeved T5 luminaires, together with the bridge structures. The lake reeds were highlighted with earth spike mounted metal halide uplights, which provided a focus at pedestrian level.

Client: Vodafone
Interior Designer: Platform Group
Contractor: Simons Group