Lighting upgrade for Vic cancer centre

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) is a multisite, multidisciplinary specialist cancer hospital and research centre located in Melbourne’s Parkville Biomedical Precinct.

Designed by Silver Thomas Hanley, DesignInc and McBride Charles Ryan, the $1bn facility is a centre for the education and treatment of cancer patients, as well as a design masterpiece.

Australian manufacturer and distributor of residential and commercial lighting Gerard Lighting, alongside Downer Group, was tasked with developing and delivering a range of suitable lighting products, as specified by the project’s engineers and architects, for VCCC.

“Over 38,000 luminaires were used in patient wards and treatment areas, research laboratories, circulation and breakout spaces, car parks and exterior zones. These luminaires were designed and chosen specifically to suit each individual application and environment. In each respect it was critical that the light fittings could be easily cleaned, were robust in build and incorporated DALI dimmable control gear, LED lamps or light engines to maximise service life and minimise power consumption and maintenance,” said Ben Mills, General Manager at Gerard Lighting.

Required to match the architecture and aesthetics of the advanced hospital and research facility, as well as to meet the strict requirements of the building’s AS1680 Interior Lighting Standard, Gerard Lighting ensured the chosen lighting systems were compatible with the building management system to deliver appropriate light levels to staff, patients and visitors in a pleasing and efficient manner.

Gerard Lighting, together with one of its architectural lighting specialists, Inlite, offered a blend of fluorescent and LED lighting products for the project and supplied a variety of bespoke commercial, architectural and medical luminaires — customised according to the specific requirements of the project and each individual application. All of the downlights installed used energy-efficient LED solutions to maximise performance and service life while minimising power consumption, outages and maintenance expense.

The benefits of using DOT downlights included high-quality aluminium reflectors and high-performance CREE LEDs to maximise output and distribution. Many of the luminaires including the cleanroom luminaires and extruded forms were redesigned to incorporate monitored emergency lighting modules to improve efficiencies in installation and minimise ceiling perforations particularly in a sealed and clean hospital and laboratory environment. Healthcare lighting has been one of the core focus areas for Gerard Lighting.

Recognising the importance in providing quality and sustainable lighting to healthcare facilities, research by Gerard Lighting has revealed how constant lighting can drastically improve care quality and reduce anxiety experienced by patients. Using different colours, dimming and control of light can enhance the visual environment and help patients and families feel more comfortable and relaxed in what can be a very stressful place and time.

Installation and customisation in sensitive areas such as the research facility was a challenging aspect of the project, explained Mills. Gerard Lighting also provided light fittings in MRI rooms bunkered several stories underground. To protect the MRI scanning equipment, physicians and patients, and to align with the requirement of a ‘metal-free product zone’, non-magnetic luminaires were built and installed in these rooms.

“Gerard Lighting was involved very early in the selection of luminaires for the project with the electrical services engineer and Downer Group to ensure a compliant and sustainable solution was delivered that met the expectations and stringent requirements of the client. Taking into consideration all elements, aspects and requirements of the project, the Melbourne-based project team, in direct communication with engineering and category in Sydney, assisted in the design, build and supply of 250 different models and variations of luminaires to site whereby 75% of these fittings were manufactured here in Australia,” said Mills. 

Once all fittings were installed, Gerard Lighting, Downer Group and Grocon engineers spent two weeks overseeing a detailed light level survey of the hospital to ensure its compliance with the respective lighting standards and levels required by the hospital.

Image credit: Peter Bennetts, courtesy of Plenary Group.