Upgrading Portsmouth’s Heritage streetlights with Pudsey Diamond LED technology

Partners:

Portsmouth City Council

Colas Ltd.

As part of a project to reduce energy consumption and to improve the street lighting across Portsmouth City, the contractor Colas was commissioned to undertake works to replace or to retrofit approximately 1,300 existing Heritage and Bespoke street lighting luminaires with LED lighting. The majority of these were located within its conservation areas in the jurisdictional boundaries of Portsmouth.

Portsmouth City Council and Colas Ltd a highly experienced contractor, required a solution that would work across all lantern variations around the City and provide the different lighting levels and color temperatures required for each road whilst maintaining the heritage aesthetics and providing energy savings.

Colas, who had been working closely with conservation officers had tested several alternative options for the Grand Parade, one of the largest open spaces in Old Portsmouth since the town was founded, to ensure that the new lighting closely matched the look and feel of the existing heritage lighting.

After due consideration and residents’ feedback, the Pudsey Diamond range of lanterns and retrofits was selected, not only for presenting the lowest cost of ownership but also for the high-quality materials, components and robustness of the product, perfect for Portsmouth coastal environment.

Our range of retrofit solutions exceeded expectations of all the parties involved. Our retrofit solutions are fully sealed, IP66 rated, award winning drop-in replacement luminaire which is designed to fit almost every type of heritage fitting and can be installed in minutes. This unique feature was adapted for the construction of our heritage lanterns enabling us to offer an above industry average IP rating. Furthermore, our luminaire frames are made from 2mm corrosion resistant high marine grade aluminium alloy and are suitably coated for this type of environment.

The frequent communications between Portsmouth City Council, Colas and Pudsey Diamond along with a very detailed program and ease of installation of the units supplied, have ensured the execution of the project in a very efficient and timely manner, giving Portsmouth City superb energy savings and preserving its historic character

Key Project Requirements:

• Energy savings
• CMS compatibility
• Lighting criteria compliant
• Choice of optics & colour temperatures to suit various scenarios
• Low glare solutions
• Authentic heritage aesthetics
• Quality engineered solutions
• UK designed & manufactured
• Easy to install & maintain
• Providing the lowest overall cost of ownership

Our proposal: 

Dickens & Austen lanterns for full lantern replacements with Varoptic® and Soft COB LED optics

• Dickens lantern with Varoptic® 3-6 mantles
• Dickens lantern with Soft COB LED
• Austen large lantern with Soft COB LED
• Austen small lantern with Varoptic®

Our Dickens and Austen lanterns follow the classical heritage style. Both come fitted with our award winning Varoptic® LED module. Our lantern designs replicate historic Victorian luminaires and are intended for use in low speed residential areas. Made from 2mm marine grade aluminium which has inherently high corrosion resistance and finished with polyester powder-coat, perfect for the Portsmouth coastal environment. The Varoptic® light engine consists of a variable number of LED elements, each having its own diffuser designed to look like a gas mantle. The diffuser spreads the light emitted from the LED across its surface, reducing glare. Using adjustable internal reflectors mounted within the diffuser, allows the distribution of light to be tailored to suit each installation.

Our Dickens and Austen lanterns have also been supplied with our Soft COB LED optic for the Portsmouth heritage lighting upgrade.  The optic chosen depended on the road, the lighting class criteria, colour temperature and height of the columns. Varoptic® gives the very best heritage look at lower levels (i.e. 5 & 6 metres) with low glare whilst still providing energy savings; the Soft COB optic provides a more efficient light distribution than Varoptic® which is better suited for columns around 8-10 metres in height, or where higher lighting classes are required.

Heritage retrofits 

• Retrofit for Urbis Abbey large with Varoptic® & Soft COB LED
• Retrofit for Urbis Abbey small with Varoptic® & Soft COB LED
• Retrofit for Metcraft Victoria with Varoptic® & Soft COB LED
• Retrofit for Mike Smith Designs with Varoptic® & Soft COB LED

Our retrofit solution is an award-winning luminaire, fully sealed IP66, CE marked drop-in replacement designed to fit the most common types of heritage lanterns and can be installed in minutes. It can be supplied with our Varoptic® gas mantle module as well as our Soft COB LED.

The most common cause of retrofit failures is water ingress. This cause of failure is not covered in any warranty provided by the manufacturer which means the client needs to purchase a new replacement unit or entire lantern. This action, not only has economic consequences due to parts and labour, it also has an environmental and carbon footprint impact in contradiction to the "more sustainable future" that we all aim for. However, this is not an issue when using Pudsey Diamond retrofit solutions due to our unique and efficient ClampPD system which has been specially designed to avoid water ingress and ensure the unit is robust and the gear compartment is fully sealed. In essence, the existing luminaire becomes the housing to our unit.

Available with a range of polycarbonate bowls to fit several manufacturers lanterns, it is the perfect solution to upgrade your current assets in a very quick and simple process.

Bespoke retrofits

• Retrofit for Millennium small lantern with LED array
• Retrofit for Millennium large lantern with LED array
• Retrofit for Woodhouse Geo Oblong small with LED array
• Retrofit for Woodhouse Geo Oblong large with LED array
• Retrofit for Woodhouse Geo Round small with LED array
• Retrofit for Woodhouse Geo Round large with LED array

Bespoke retrofits have been looked at on a “one to one” basis. Sample lanterns have been examined closely to ensure suitability of the new gear tray and mock up samples have been produced before the final product is manufactured.

We have also improved the fixings and connections in order to ease the installation process and minimise the time on site for the operatives.