Complementing the London skyline

The challenge

In the heart of the City of London, a stone’s throw from tourist destinations such as St Paul’s Cathedral and Tate Modern, is the busy commuter hub – Blackfriars Station. Situated on Queen Victoria Street, one of the flagship streets within the city and the approach to the central business district, the surrounding roads recently underwent major redevelopment.

With stone and glass facades now used extensively around the station, TfL required a product to light the Blackfriars junction, which would be complementary to both the new modern aesthetic and the traditional architectural style of neighbouring buildings such as Unilever House.

Clients and partners

  • Client

    TfL

Key project requirements

  • Complement both the modern and traditional aesthetics of surrounding buildings.
  • Meet minimum average lighting level of 30lx.
  • Meet minimum maintained overall uniformity of 0.4.

The solution

Katana’s discreet aesthetic was selected to sit alongside both the new and old buildings in the city. Our 2-module version of Katana Urban Post Top replaced the existing 4 x 140w Cosmpolis lamps, providing both the required lighting performance and contemporary design alongside an impressive energy saving of 57%.

Katana delivered by achieving a minimum average of 30.53lx reducing the over lighting of the previous scheme and an increase in uniformity to 0.46, easily meeting the requirements. A neutral white 4000K was selected as the most appropriate CCT for the busy traffic route and conflict junction.

With a noticeable weight reduction Katana also proved easier and lighter to handle, speeding up the installation process.

" We have worked with DW Windsor on previous projects and we were interested to see what this new product had to offer. For us Katana represented high light output in an attractive package. The products styling was very much in keeping with the desired look we were trying to achieve, while offering us unrivalled performance and great energy savings "

Ian Coombs, TfL

Katana Urban range