Lux Awards 2012 presentation recognizes lighting excellence

The Lux Awards were presented on November 6 as part of the LuxLive tradeshow, which took place in London on November 6-7. The awards recognize the lighting industry’s top manufacturers, boldest clients, latest technologies and most inspiring installations. Winners were chosen in 16 categories covering architectural lighting, retrofit projects, urban lighting, retail lighting, new interior and exterior products, and innovations in the areas of light sources and controls.

Full details of the winners and all short-listed entries can be seen on the Lux Magazine website.  The Lux Awards are presented by Lux in association with the UK's Lighting Industry Association. 

Controls Innovation of the Year

WINNER: 50W LED Driver Platform – EldoLED

EldoLED’s Solodrive 561 is a 0-10V dimmable, constant-current LED driver. Dimming is smooth all the way down to zero. Solodrive’s two LED outputs offer the possibility of driving a high-power 50W LED array connected to a single output, or driving two strings of 15 LEDs at 350mA. LEDcode allows easy extension of the Solodrive’s feature set with time, motion and brightness-based intelligence. Judges described it as a ‘clever package’ and were impressed with its smooth dimming to zero output, a rarity in LED control.

Light Source Innovation of the Year  

WINNER: E-Core Candle – Toshiba

The E-Core LED 6W Candle from Toshiba delivers a 250-lumen replacement for a traditional 25W incandescent lamp without compromising on the quality of the light. The design of the virtual filament inside the E-Core Candle LED gives the illusion of a traditional lamp and directs the light in a uniform and elegant manner perfect for chandeliers, table lamps and wall-mounted decorative luminaires. Judges said this LED lamp ‘had the soul of an incandescent candle lamp’. It looked ‘fabulous even when dimmed’.

Exterior Luminaire of the Year  

WINNER: Aeroblades – Cree and Speirs + Major

Aeroblades is the result of a collaboration between independent lighting design practice Speirs + Major and LED manufacturer Cree in which the two companies set out to produce the next generation of urban amenity lighting. With over 20 different optics, the range offers exceptional optical control with very high efficiency. The LEDs have been grouped into modules of ten to allow the luminaires to be scaled to meet a wide range of output requirements. Judges called it a ‘dramatic new form factor’ that was ‘truly innovative’ and ‘expertly executed’.

Interior Luminaire of the Year  

WINNER: Laser Blade – iGuzzini

iGuzzini’s Laser Blade is an LED indoor recessed fitting designed to deliver a concentrated, dramatic light that eliminates light beams that cross the eyes and which are not required to light the objects. The product is designed to produce a very concentrated light with a 25° cone. Laser Blade can also produce a general light, with 50° cones, with highly efficient lenses and with very little glare. The judges said the Laser Blade was ‘beautifully executed’ with ‘superb attention to detail’.

Recycling Award  

WINNER: Skinflint Design

Skinflint specialises in reclaimed lighting and salvaged lights with an emphasis on industrial fixtures. Fittings are restored, rewired and fitted with energy-efficient light sources, rescuing beautiful products from landfill or sale as scrap metal. The judges said: ‘Re-use like this has a role to play in low-energy lighting in the right environment and with the right light source.’

Retrofit Lighting Project of the Year  

WINNER: The Crown Jewels, Tower of London – Sutton Vane Associates

The £2.5 million refurbishment of the Jewel House at the Tower of London includes a relighting scheme by Sutton Vane Associates. It markedly improves the visitor’s visual experience and improves light output and efficiency. Judges were ‘blown away’ by this ‘once-in-a-lifetime project’ and cited a ‘stunning and highly sophisticated design’ that ‘made the jewels sing’.

Lighting design: Sutton Vane Associates -- Exhibition design: Ralph Appelbaum

Industrial Project of the Year  

WINNER: Royal Mail National Distribution Centre, Daventry – Philips Lighting

Philips and Romec collaborated to create a bespoke LED lighting scheme for Royal Mail at its Daventry distribution centre. Philips’ GentleSpace is a high-bay LED luminaire that replaces HID high-bays of up to 400W, enabling significant energy savings. The Royal Mail can expect savings of £9,000 a year in energy costs. Judges thought that the lighting installation was a ‘massive improvement’ on the previous scheme which delivered ‘big savings’ for the client.

Lighting design: Romec/Philips

Equipment: Philips GentleSpace

Commercial Project of the Year   

WINNER: Rothschild Bank, London – GIA Equation

GIA’s stunning scheme for Rothschild Bank is a worthy winner. The reception is illuminated with dimmable CMH downlighters. Daylight mimicking principles were used in all open-plan offices, using high-frequency dimmable T5 fluorescent luminaires with 3000K and 4000K lamps on alternate circuits. The meeting room floor is entirely lit by LED light sources using a combination of backlit fabric panels and LED downlights and wash lights. Judges described this as ‘a beautiful scheme’ with ‘great attention to detail’.

Lighting design: GIA Equation

Urban Lighting Project of the Year  

WINNER: Bradford City Park – Arup

Carefully balancing the lighting for differing pedestrian experiences at Bradford City Park, Arup has delivered a flexible, playful night-time setting while maintaining the functional city centre. City Park has enhanced the overall image of Bradford and has provided a catalyst for regeneration. Judges called it a ‘transformative project’ that is ‘socially inclusive’.

Lighting design: Arup -- Lighting columns and sculpture: Wolfgang Buttress -- Interactive public art: Haque Design + Research -- Equipment: WE-EF, Erco, Encapsulite, ElektoLED, Philips, E:Cue

Retail and Leisure Project of the Year  

WINNER: Morrisons Stanground – Morrisons plc and NG Bailey

The Morrisons Stanground site is Europe’s first all-LED store, reducing energy costs, maintenance costs and installation time all by around 50 per cent. The store also uses daylight harvesting, working alongside Dali-controlled luminaires, with lightlines going down the aisles as opposed to Morrisons’ traditional cross-aisle approach. The project ‘takes quality low-energy LED lighting to a mass audience,’ said the judges.

Architectural Lighting Project of the Year

WINNER: Worth Abbey Church, East Sussex – DPA Lighting Design

The new lighting scheme at Worth Abbey Church significantly improves light levels for ambient and task requirements, using much longer life lamps and offering easy-to-access maintenance. The scheme is now fully scene-set dimmable and reused the existing luminaires where possible. With its sophisticated use of controls, this project ‘does exactly what the client requires it to’, said the judges.

Lighting design: DPA Lighting Design -- Architect: Heatherwick Studio -- Equipment: Mike Stoane Lighting, ACDC, Philips Color Kinetics, Lutron

Client of the Year

WINNER: Waitrose – nominated by Synergy

A client with a strong energy reduction agenda who is ‘consistently open to new ideas’, said the judges. Waitrose’s  recently-opened Stratford store in east London is the world’s first Breeam ‘Outstanding’ retail project. Following successful trials at its Bracknell store, lighting one aisle with a specially designed 600 x 600mm LED module, Waitrose has lit the complete sales area of its new store in Stratford upon Avon with solid-state lighting. It is believed to be the first retail store in the UK to do this without exceeding an energy consumption of 10W/m2.

Manufacturer of the Year  

WINNER: Harvard Engineering

Judges described the growth of Harvard as ‘the stand-out success story of the British lighting industry in recent years’.  Its culture of ‘innovation and risk taking’ undoubtedly helped drive its growth to become one of the leaders in design, development and manufacture of electronic HID ballasts, LED drivers and control products. Its LeafNut wireless streetlighting control system has been a major technical success. The company has invested heavily in LED technology and the success of its CoolLED range of LED drivers has been a key contributor to growth. It has recently combined LeafNut with LED technology with the launch of its LeafNut-enabled CLP driver.

SLL Young Lighter of the Year  

WINNER: Sabine De Schutter

Lighting Design Practice of the Year  

WINNER: Sutton Vane Associates

For the ‘sheer quality’ of its output over the period from the Olympic Park landscaping and public realm – which was both ‘sympathetic and iconic’ – to the ‘flawless’ treatment of the Crown Jewels, judges said SVA was the outstanding lighting design practice in 2012. The Crown Jewels won the Retrofit Lighting Project category while the Olympic Park in London and Titanic Belfast were highly commended in the Urban Lighting and Architectural Lighting Project categories respectively.

Lux Person of the Year  

WINNER: Nigel Harvey, CEO, Recolight

The judges named Nigel Harvey the Lux Person of the Year to recognise his role in the ‘enormous sucess’ of Recolight, the leading compliance scheme for WEEE lamps in the UK. Under Harvey’s stewardship, the organisation has funded the recycling of over 125 million lamps, which has prevented a third of a tonne of mercury from entering landfill.

In 2010, lamps accounted for just two per cent of the tonnage of business electrical equipment placed on the market in the UK, but accounted for over 22 per cent of the business WEEE collected, according to Environment Agency figures. Much of the success is attributable to Harvey’s leadership and commitment to both the spirit and letter of the WEEE legislation.