Commonwealth Law Courts - Brisbane

LIGHTING REFURBISHMENT:

THE BRISBANE COMMONWEALTH LAW COURTS

The Brisbane Commonwealth Law Courts, Harry Gibbs Commonwealth Law Courts building is a Department of Finance (Finance) owned 13-storey premises constructed in 1993 that houses the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and National Native Title Tribunal.

In late 2020, a building life cycle management assessment was undertaken in consultation with Ventia (Finance property service provider), and independent engineering consultant, AG Coombs advisory identified that although the building is generally in good condition; the lighting system and its associated controls were deemed end of life and in need of replacement.

The project aim was to retain the existing building structure and ceilings to preserve the original architectural design, while working within a live site. The new lighting system was to prioritise energy efficiency to align with the client's goal of conserving energy and reducing operational costs while minimising environmental impact.

The key priorities and specifications for the lighting refurbishment were needed to retain the existing building fabric, excellent properties for colour rendering, glare minimisation and to minimise energy consumption. Additionally, the lighting system was to provide adequate melanopic action spectrum and illuminance levels to ensure occupant comfort and create a welcoming environment, while considering the importance of artificial light on human circadian rhythms.

Eagle Lighting successfully participated in a tender process initiated by One Electrical Pty Ltd. The tender required a solution to meet the specifications outlined by A. G. Coombs Pty Ltd. Eagle Lighting submitted a competitive and innovative tender that was ultimately accepted by One Electrical Pty Ltd. Consequently, One Electrical included Eagle Lighting's solution in their overall offer as part of the Ventia Property tender request for the project.

One Electrical were awarded the electrical contract with Eagle Lighting’s solution as a component of their winning tender. The refurbishment was delivered over 13 months where all the works were conducted after-hours and the designated area be functional for the next day of court operations.

Each of the 11 floors captured within the refurbishment comprised multiple spaces with intricate and varying lighting levels including: Courtrooms, Judges’ Chambers, jury rooms, meeting rooms, amenities, storerooms, open office areas, kitchenettes, foyers, circulation spaces and complex interweaving back of house corridors.

The lighting control system installed are highly flexible to allow for customisation to meet the specific performance and comfort needs of the building occupants, and to ensure that the final system can adapt to changing requirements. The Courtrooms, Judges' Chambers and Associate offices have their own override control to regulate lights based on individuals’ preferences and automatic sensors are in operation of all other areas.

The scope included installation and configuration of

• 3,660+ Organic Response sensor nodes, integrated and remote,
• 135 EnOcean wall switches,
• 2,329 Eagle Lighting Aureled troffer luminaires,
• 971 Eagle Lighting Vertex custom troffer luminaires,
• 416 Eagle Lighting Multifive LED custom troffer luminaires,
• 2,900 Eagle Lighting Pleiad G4 Downlights,
• 160m of Fagerhult Notor pendant luminaires. 

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