Enhancing the safety and performance of lighting in the Crossrail Network

When Designed Architectural Lighting (DAL) was contracted to design and manufacture specialist luminaires for the cross-passage tunnel lighting in several of the newly built stations on the Crossrail Elizabeth Line, it turned to Southco for a solution to enhance the safety and performance of the luminaires.

DAL is one of Britain’s leading specialists in the design and manufacture of luminaires. Founded in 1983, it specialises in integrating the requirements of architects, designers and engineers with the best in lamp technology and materials for a wide portfolio of prestigious clients.

Part of London’s developing underground transport network, the Crossrail Elizabeth Line offers safer, easier and faster journeys. A major challenge DAL faced was ensuring the safety of the significantly heavy main cover on each lighting fixture. With the covers weighing up to 30kg, there was potential for them to fall open during maintenance and cause harm to staff and passengers, and damage to the surrounding area.

The project required DAL to design and manufacture over 1,000 specialist luminaires and accompanying accessories for the cross-passage tunnel lighting in several of the newly built stations along London’s new Crossrail Elizabeth Line

While DAL has extensive experience in solving similar challenges for clients, it was tasked with demonstrating to Crossrail and Transport for London that its solution was robust, viable and cost-effective enough to meet the project specifications. For a solution, DAL worked with Southco to provide a value-added product to Transport for London.

The luminaires and their enclosures are not only highly efficient but also safer, more intelligent and more durable than alternative products, offering Crossrail and Transport for London the highest standard of quality, and greater peace of mind around liability and safety.

As a pioneering lighting design and manufacturing company, DAL was seeking products and components that could help them achieve their vision for their clients’ project. By identifying intuitive and durable hardware that addressed all the potential issues, it could be certain that it was developing a superior, value-added product for Crossrail and Transport for London.

Using high quality access solutions also enabled DAL to offer its client a more competitive product. DAL identified that no other supplier apart from Southco had the right mix of hardware to achieve the functionality that was required. Southco provided multiple products from one source, which not only solved DAL’s design and safety challenges but also offered their customers a more robust and forward-thinking solution.

The solution was built around a combination of Southco’s TL overcentre draw latches and keepers, TL slide latches, DZUS quick access quarter-turn fasteners and E6 position control hinges which, by ensuring that the heavy lighting enclosure covers are safe and easy to open and close with no drift or swing, makes the lighting system secure, durable and easy to access and maintain

John Ilett, chief design engineer at DAL, said: “With safety and access together with exceptional lighting performance being essential considerations within this complex setting, we knew that the design for our client, Transport for London, would require careful planning and problem-solving. We recognized that we had to identify a solution which, to meet all our client’s requirements, would most likely be a multiple-part system.

“We needed to identify intelligent hardware which would not only fit the setting but maintain the long-term safety and performance of the entire lighting system. Our partnership with Southco enabled us to address a significant and complex challenge for Transport for London, ensuring that the DAL luminaires on the London Crossrail line are effective and safe to maintain and operate.

“We were impressed at Southco’s ability to identify the ideal components and to make the appropriate modifications to meet our needs and those of our clients.”