Forth Valley College
A PLACE OF LIGHT FOR LEARNING
State-of-the-art laboratories, a distillation plant and a biotechnology centre: the recently opened Forth Valley College in the Scottish town of Falkirk combines an excellent lighting concept and advanced room design to create an ultra-modern learning environment. The lighting solution from Austrian lighting specialists Zumtobel not only fits seamlessly into the surrounding architecture, it is also precisely tailored to the building's specific lux levels and glare protection requirements. Zumtobel worked closely with the design team from building infrastructure specialists AECOM right from the start.
With an investment of 78 million GBP – around 86 million Euro – the new campus in Falkirk is one of the largest publicly funded building projects in Scotland. The site serves both as the college's new headquarters and completes Forth Valley College's ambitious real estate portfolio. The unique, state-of-the-art facilities cater for a wide range of subject areas, with a focus on natural sciences, mathematics, engineering and civil engineering, as well as care and nursing, health and sport and the service sector.
Cutting-edge education
The college's educational facilities offer endless possibilities. They include laboratories, a practice-only drilling platform, a distillation plant, a virtual control centre, a biotechnology centre, construction workshops, a sports centre, and salons in which trainee hairdressers and beauticians can gain practical experience. Forth Valley College's pioneering approach supports learning and teaching – with model classrooms, a flexible room usage concept across the entire campus and the latest technological equipment. The college also offers libraries, conference rooms, sports and catering facilities.
A continuous-row lighting system for different applications
Zumtobel chose the LED continuous-row lighting system SLOTLIGHT infinity slim for the corridors, atria, classrooms and various communal areas on the Falkirk campus. Only 45 mm wide, the SLOTLIGHT infinity slim can be used in a variety of ways and is able to adapt to the desired room design. The luminaires benefit from the aesthetic and components of the SLOTLIGHT infinity product group – and are therefore particularly easy to maintain. The matte optics, supplied as a continuous cover of up to 50 metres, mean a continuous-row lighting system that can be seamlessly integrated – without interruptions and dark spots.
Sensitive lighting solution enhances the architecture
The mounting frames of the SLOTLIGHT infinity slim not only guarantee the lighting solution's uniform appearance, they also ensure that luminaires and covers are technically and thermally separated, and enable the SLOTLIGHT infinity slim to also be installed in suspended ceilings. The result is a high-quality solution that is carefully integrated into the architecture using continuous light lines.
"The simplicity and uniformity of the continuous-row lighting system make it easy to maintain it in future. At the same time, the functional requirements of the different rooms in the college are met." — Thomas Rodger, Associate Director, Building Engineering at Zumtobel's project partner AECOM
LITECOM: user comfort meets energy efficiency
The luminaires installed on the Forth Valley College campus are controlled and regulated with Zumtobel's groundbreaking lighting management system, LITECOM. The open system focuses on user comfort and energy efficiency: it can be controlled via an app, is quick to install, easy to commission and intuitive to operate. By combining switch, touch panel and software in one, LITECOM guarantees maximum flexibility and reduces complexity. LITECOM enables individual lighting solutions to be integrated, controlled and monitored whilst also meeting the lighting requirements of a specific project. Additional functions are easy to programme and integrate. The system can also be used with any kind of control point: traditional momentary-action switches, Zumtobel control points, smartphones, tablets or computers. The intelligent control system makes optimum use of daylight – making it easy to save energy responsibly.
Zumtobel's lighting management system LITECOM is extremely flexible and is easily adapted to future uses. This is in line with Forth Valley College's aim: collaborative and future-oriented learning and working.
Lighting expertise right from the start of the project
Thanks to the excellent cooperation between Zumtobel's lighting specialists and AECOM's design team, both companies were able to advance the project precisely and in line with the requirements. The result of the partnership is a lighting solution that is second to none.
The result is an energy-efficient and sustainable campus in the Scottish town of Falkirk. Zumtobel’s lighting solution, with the LED continuous-row lighting system SLOTLIGHT infinity slim and the lighting management system LITECOM, enhances the first-class quality of the educational spaces and creates a productive learning environment at Forth Valley College.
Working with the Zumtobel team was a fantastic experience. Thanks to a truly proactive and collaborative approach, we were able to meet our client's strict requirements – and at the same time bring out the best of the building's architecture. Drawing on the input of Zumtobel's lighting specialists right from the start was extremely valuable – and allowed us to manage the project from concept to completion without any problems
