A grade II * listed building in need of an emergency lighting refit, BLE Lighting & Power Ltd worked to bring a Tudor age building into the 21st century without affecting its historical architecture.

As Emergency Lighting and Power experts with a reputation for solving lighting problems, we are often contacted to deal with delicate projects.

We were approached by 260 year old specialist; Sykes & Son who are London’s oldest independent building contractor. They specialise in restoring and maintaining the capital’s heritage and work directly with the custodians of the entirety of London’s historical buildings. Their joint role is the upkeep of these unique and special places.
  

The most difficult aspect of working on a listed building is that it cannot be drilled. For most lighting this creates a substantial problem, as new fittings cannot simply be wired up to a power system or be drilled into the wall or ceiling.

Our solution was to install emergency lighting fixtures in the exact same position as previous lighting, connected to a mini inverter which provided power in the event of a mains failure from within a purpose-built plasterboard room.

The inverter could be fixed securely to the plasterboard without affecting the natural architecture, and it also ensured the inverter remained hidden from view.


The lighting also had to fit the aesthetic of the lodge. Emergency lighting in its original form wasn’t acceptable as it would have sat too obviously against the Tudor décor.

To solve this problem, we matched the RAL of the ancient brown beams and applied a wrap of the same colour to the lighting, so that the finished product would blend in and sit discreetly, only to be make itself apparent in an emergency and ensure visitors and staff within the lodge could exit safely should the need arise.
 

The level of attention to detail and adaptability we can dedicate to all our projects is one of the reasons that we are requested to work on prestigious, listed buildings.

The end result in this case demonstrated how problem-solving sits within the core of BLE Lighting & Power and the customer is always at the forefront of everything we do.