Macquarie Centre deploys Philips’ energy-efficient LED lighting solution

As part of an ongoing lighting maintenance program, AMP Capital Shopping Centres, which manages Macquarie Centre, recently embarked on a centre-wide relamping project, replacing the metal-halide lighting in the centre’s popular Loft precinct, which is an area that caters to shoppers’ lifestyle and homewares requirements. AMP turned to preferred supplier and lighting/electrical specialist KP Lighting to provide a lighting solution that would deliver premium energy efficiency without compromising lighting performance. KP Lighting specified, installed and commissioned an energy-saving LED lighting solution from Philips.

Macquarie Centre, in North Ryde, Sydney, is spread over 99,000 square metres and is home to over 240 specialty stores across four levels. In keeping with the Macquarie Centre’s commitment to community, corporate responsibility and energy efficiency, 28 Philips LuxSpace LED white light downlights were installed in the Loft area - making the centre one of the first shopping precincts in Australia to incorporate Philips LuxSpace energy-saving LED lighting technology.

“With mall lighting accounting for approximately 15% of Macquarie Centre’s energy consumption, and electricity prices due to increase significantly in the coming years, an energy-efficient lighting solution was essential,” said Mathew Carey, KP Lighting National Operations Manager. His team set out to specify a lighting solution that would deliver significant energy savings, while at the same time enhancing the mall’s lighting aesthetic. In presenting its lighting proposal, KP Lighting prepared an Energy Reduction Recommendation report, which provided a detailed analysis of the proposed lighting system’s energy-saving qualities, as well as total life cycle cost - from installation through to ongoing maintenance.

LuxSpace LED was a suitable choice. Each of the LuxSpace LED downlights consumes only 35 W - a significant improvement on the mall’s original metal-halide fixtures which each drew 150 W. The LuxSpace LED downlights have been designed to achieve low power consumption without sacrificing light quality - especially in general lighting applications such as shopping centres. With a choice of optics and warm-white and cool-white correlated colour temperature (CCT), the Macquarie Centre team can tailor lighting schemes to enhance the retail environment.

Furthermore, the LuxSpace LED features the latest remote phosphor technology, delivering consistent light output, stable colour performance, high colour rendering (Ra>80) and a system efficacy reaching 60 lm/W.

Installation of Macquarie Centre’s new LED lighting system was a streamlined process. “The LuxSpace LEDs are essentially a plug-and-play solution,” says Carey. “They have been designed to accommodate standard 200 mm-diameter downlight cut-outs, so we simply had to remove the old metal-halide fixtures and replace them with the LuxSpace LEDs. Additionally, with just a single surface-socket to connect, it meant that we could leverage the centre’s existing wiring infrastructure - no additional lighting fixture cuts or wiring were required.”

With an extended lifetime of 50,000 hours, the LuxSpace LED eliminates the need for time-consuming and costly re-lamping in the future. “The maintenance requirements of the LuxSpace are negligible,” says Carey. “Once fitted, the job is done, freeing up maintenance resources for other tasks.” AMP Capital Shopping Centres is now looking towards the planned expansion of Macquarie Centre, which will see the addition of a new two-level mall, 150 specialty stores, a fresh food market and 1400 additional car-park spaces.