The new BBC headquarters in Wales, a lighting marvel

Zumtobel, the Austrian lighting specialist, has just offered a beautiful showcase. Which is called Central Square and which is the new broadcasting center of the BBC (British public television) in Wales, in Cardiff more precisely. To create this new benchmark media center across the Channel, the Austrians put the effort on acoustics, but especially on lighting. The result is striking and meets high standards. Since the 17th century and French libraries flooded with light, the lighting of large buildings has never ceased to be thought out and improved. The results at the 21st century, like the Central Square, do justice to this development.

Amazing feeling from start

The visitor entering the building immediately finds himself in a large entrance hall which allows a glimpse of the 5 floors of the building. The sensation at that moment: the noise that floods the entrance. For the sake of openness and transparency, visitors have the impression of entering the offices directly. Openness and transparency which are also intended to let in the light massively.

Lighting challenges and authentic color rendering

You quickly realize that the entire building was designed with openness in mind. About a third of workplaces are fixed positions. Employees also have access to office spaces, meeting rooms and open-plan lounges. Particular emphasis has been placed on acoustic solutions (media oblige). This allows both fluid dialogue in open spaces and silent recordings in studios. A diffusion area that also posed particular challenges for lighting and authentic color rendering. To develop the right solution in this area, Zumtobel worked together with the BBC and its design team. To meet the different lighting requirements of the building, the Austrian company used all its know-how.

The light line fits into the architecture of the rooms

VIVO LED spotlights improve lighting with light points. They are characterized by a high color rendering index and uniform light distribution. The ARCOS LED spotlight system with a minimalist design complements finely accentuated lighting with wide distribution. In addition, the ONDARIA round decorative lamp provides soft and pleasant lighting reminiscent of natural light. ONDARIA was also chosen for the lounge areas. For the office spaces, Zumtobel has chosen several variants of the SLOTLIGHT infinity and its cross and rectangular shapes. All of this to reflect the lively and vibrant nature of a TV channel’s newsroom.

A combination of projectors in the radio studio and meeting rooms

In the radio studio and in the meeting rooms, Zumtobel uses a combination of projectors, including SUPERSYSTEM and PANOS evolution downlights. Excellent light quality with a combined color temperature of 4000 K and high level color rendering (CRI> 90) ensure first-class functional and architectural lighting.

Beyond the pleasant and ergonomic aspect, this heavy investment is proof that business leaders understand more and more the importance of the well-being of employees in the workplace. But the general impression is that this effort is made when the employees of the company are seen as providing high added value. The movement has to start. But we are all waiting for its democratization. The moment when all of us, average employees, will work in offices, similar to the Central Square.

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