The Goods Shed
The Goods Shed Images. The Studio. Image ©
The Goods Shed houses the new offices and studio for Morgan Carey Architects.
The Director responsible for the project was Mark Carey.
When Mark and I wandered around the site last November we spoke about what he was looking for from the lighting installation:
1. not a conventional office lighting scheme
2. not a ‘heritage’ pastiche of Victorian industrial lanterns
3. a scheme that responded to the internal structure of the building – and in particular, the expressed beams that criss-cross the space
4. a building that everyone would really enjoy working in
So no pressure, then.
The clue really lay in the physical structure. The original building had been a double-height space, part of what used to be the Wareham railway maintenance premises, so the complexity of the roof structure hardly mattered. But the introduction of a mezzanine floor changed that relationship radically. I’ve been looking for some time at lighting solutions that don’t rely on deliberately projected light (from spotlights, downlights and louvre systems), seeking out a more gentle – more natural, if you will - illumination, and this building lent itself to that idea.
The cacophony of straight lines, running at all angles, demanded a solution that didn’t add to the confusion. The sphere is the purest of geometric forms and the use of light globes was the obvious way to go. Having the globes mounted randomly amongst the roof structure also reduces additional linearity in the space.
Because the globes distribute their light evenly around the space, there is no sense of the roof structure bearing down on the occupants. Although the arrangement looks random, the siting of the globes was based on the density of work-stations across the floor, and as a consequence shadowing is keep to a minimum and the uniformity across the working plane is very good.
Each work station is provided with a task light, though its reported that these are rarely used.
Good quality daylighting is available throughout the building, from original curved windows and new north-facing rooflights at the mezzanine level, and double height glazing at the main entrance/reception space.
Technical stuff:
It’s a 100% low energy scheme, using a combination of compact fluorescent (single height spaces) and metal halide lamps (double-height spaces)
The light globes are ‘Basic Ball’ from RZB Lighting Systems Ltd.
The luminaires are fed electrically from a continuous 3-circuit lighting track around the roof perimeter. The lighting track was supplied by High Technology Lighting Ltd.
RZB and HTL also provided other luminaires within the building.
John Bullock Lighting Design: 01305 889256
