Virgin Australia national head office was built in 2008 in Bowen Hills, Brisbane. Costing some $61 million dollars the “Virgin Village Workplace” concept covers three buildings, creating a campus like culture across the site of about 13,000 square metres. This precinct will be home to about 1,000 staff and will be a reflection of the growth of this innovative leader in passenger aviation. With the Virgin brand being progressive, innovative and fun this design theme needed to be reflected throughout the site.

The architectural integration of the lighting design was paramount. With exposed architectural surfaces pendant lights, floor and task lighting was used to minimise surface mounted services. With the project requiring an extremely high build quality to reflect the desired flair of the Virgin brand, engineers needed to maintain a high level of coordination with all parties. With lighting being integral to the ambience, mood and aesthetics of the spaces the experience and knowledge of Balanced Technology’s Queensland Distributor Xulux, was called upon.

The lighting control equipment used was primarily din-rail mounted which was neatly mounted in the distribution boards. The user interface switch panels decided upon were the ever reliable classic stainless steel type. Sensors provide a high level of energy efficiency with all lights switching on/off as required and are not switched on in unoccupied spaces. Perimeter sensors provide daylight control where perimeter lighting would switch off when natural lighting reaches sufficient levels. In some open areas where security cameras are monitoring the area and sensors were not visually desirable the lighting control system interfaces to the security system. Utilising these cameras to trigger occupancy removed the need for sensors.

All three buildings use a trunk and spur topology with a dedicated RS485 network running on each floor. To reduce duplication an Ethernet network is used between floors and buildings to provide a full site wide lighting control network. A head end PC allows site wide control, time scheduling and monitoring with Mapview giving the client a visual view of the lighting control network. Balanced Technology’s Queensland Distributor Xulux also interfaced to the Audio Visual system and are controlling motorised blinds.

With the level of integration accomplished on this project and the lighting control system doing what it was designed to do, we can truly say mission accomplished.