Smart RGBW Lighting Creates a Flexible Sensory Space at Airedale Academy

Airedale Academy in Castleford required a lighting solution that could support the different needs of students within a dedicated sensory room, while also providing effective general and emergency lighting throughout surrounding circulation spaces.

The Brief

Sensory rooms provide students with a dedicated environment where lighting, colour and atmosphere can be adapted to create a space suited to a range of different needs.

At Airedale Academy, the lighting needed to offer much greater flexibility than conventional white light. The school required a solution that could create different colours and lighting scenes, allowing the sensory room environment to be easily changed when required.

Alongside the sensory room, the wider scheme also required comfortable general lighting and clearly visible emergency exit signage throughout circulation areas.

The Solution

Ansell’s Pace 600×600 RGBW panels were selected for the sensory room, providing a versatile combination of functional white light and dynamic colour.

With access to more than 16 million colours, the RGBW panels allow the appearance and atmosphere of the room to be transformed to suit different activities and requirements. The panels also provide 4000K white light when standard functional illumination is needed.

Casambi smart lighting control adds further flexibility, enabling the lighting to be easily adjusted and allowing different lighting scenes to be created and recalled when required. This gives staff a simple way to adapt the sensory environment without the need for complicated controls.

Elsewhere within the academy, Comfort EVO downlights were installed throughout circulation areas, providing clean, comfortable illumination and complementing the overall scheme.

Encore exit signs were also incorporated to provide clear emergency wayfinding throughout these areas, ensuring the lighting scheme addresses both everyday illumination and emergency requirements.

The Result

The completed installation provides Airedale Academy with a flexible lighting scheme tailored to the different requirements of its spaces.

Within the sensory room, Pace RGBW panels and Casambi control give staff the ability to quickly transform the lighting using colour and pre-set scenes, creating an adaptable environment that can respond to how the room is being used.

Combined with Comfort EVO downlights and Encore exit signs throughout the circulation areas, the result is a considered lighting solution that brings together flexibility, visual comfort and functionality across the academy.