Holophane shines through at garden centre

Interior and exterior lighting at the Lancashire Homes and Gardens garden centre in Haslingden is provided by fittings from Holophane Lighting. Installed by Walsh Electrical, the lighting scheme incorporates a combination of metal halide and high pressure sodium light sources to ensure good colour rendering and efficient use of energy.

The centre covers an area of seven acres, and has 100,000 square feet of indoor display space as well as extensive outdoor areas. Interior lighting is provided by Holophane's Europrism glass style high bay fittings with a mixture of 250W, 400W and 450W metal halide light sources. The precise optics of the Europrism ensures effective light distribution with no glare, while the self-cleaning effect of the luminaires helps to reduce maintenance requirements for the centre.

The use of metal halide lamps in this area helps to address the problem faced by many garden centres, namely how to make plants look good indoors. "We are very pleased with the quality of the lighting scheme, which enhances the appearance of the plants and makes them look natural," commented general manager Phylip Mullan Reid.

Externally, the focal point is an entrance tower, illuminated by Muralux flood lights with 'blue coloured' metal halide lamps to draw the eye to the structure. The compact design of the Muralux units ensures that the lighting is highly visible while the fittings themselves are hidden from view. Muralux also offers a range of light distributions to allow precision in the design.

The approach to the entrance is lit by Brooklyn street lanterns sited along the approach road, providing high lighting levels for enhanced safety while minimising light spillage and maximising the spacing of columns.

In the main external sales areas, Holophane's Petxina column mounted fittings are used with SON-XT lamps in single and twin lamp configurations. The stylish design of Petxina ensures that the lighting contributes to the aesthetics of the area during the daytime as well as after the hours of darkness. Additional exterior lighting is provided by Seattle architectural floodlights.