SPARTAN Breathes New Life into Dublin Cemetery
When you think of hazardous areas, there might be a few different applications or industries which come to mind; offshore drilling rigs, onshore refineries, pharmaceutical or petrochemical. Cemeteries though, are probably not one of the first applications which jump to mind!
A recent project however saw Raytec’s Zone 2 SPARTAN luminaires installed in a cemetery in Dublin, Ireland, which is also a popular tourist destination. The cemetery is home to the tallest round tower in Ireland and attracts thousands of tourists every year; with multiple exhibits, six landing platforms and a viewing area at the top, it provides the perfect setting to look out across Dublin.
The Installation and Challenges.
As a popular tourist destination, ensuring safety of those who enter the tower was paramount. New lighting was required to illuminate the towers 198 step staircase, crypt and emergency exit routes in the event the tower had to be evacuated. Due to the way the tower had been originally constructed, as well as the recent addition of a wooden staircase, the client decided to use Zone 2 hazardous equipment inside the tower area due to concerns that standard lighting may present a fire risk.
Reducing Running Costs.
As well as ensuring the luminaires on-site complied to the new safety requirements, one of the main motivations behind upgrading the existing lighting was to reduce ongoing costs. For years the tower relied on incandescent lighting which provided poor light levels and required frequent maintenance due to a restricted life span of around 2 years.
Raytec’s SPARTAN range of bespoke LED luminaire provided the perfect solution. Unlike many LED luminaires, all Raytec fittings use a housing specifically designed for LEDs to ensure they run cool and provide long life with minimum levels of maintenance. In fact, SPARTAN’s thermal management technology ensures the luminaires have a lifetime of up to 100,000 hours with no need for re-lamping.
We are very pleased with final outcome of the installation. Tours of the tower will now be able to take place even at night and this was something that they will be introducing on a limited availability.Museum Representative
Emergency Performance.
With many tourist visitors and a severe lack of natural light inside the tower, emergency lighting was an important part of the project to bring safety levels up to an adequate level. In the event of an emergency, or if mains power was lost, emergency lighting was required to illuminate the general area and to display exit routes, so visitors could safely exit the tower.
With 25% light output on emergency as standard, Raytec’s SPARTAN Linear luminaires exceeded the required level of light achieved on emergency compared to other luminaires which the Museum considered. This meant sufficient light could be generated from the installation without the need for additional dedicated emergency lighting which would have increased costs.
Meanwhile for the exit routes, the SPARTAN Bulkhead provided the ideal solution; available with a dedicated exit sign kit accessory which could be tailored to the requirements of the site during installation.
Independent Certification.
As the lowest level of protection in hazardous areas, Zone 2 luminaires can legally be self-certified by the manufacturer. However, with the tower being access by members of the public, the Museum’s health and safety team were insistent on a luminaire which had been certified by an independent test house.
All Raytec Zone 2 luminaires are independently tested and certified to ensure they comply to the latest standards, including op-is protection.
Integration into the Tower.
Built in 1854, the original design of the tower gave no consideration to the installation of light fittings. This meant integrating luminaires into the tower, without damaging the towers masonry, or impeding the view to the bottom, was a challenge.
Thanks to the effective thermal management of all Raytec products, the Linear luminaires could be integrated into the wooden staircase without fear of overheating. This alleviated one of the main concerns surrounding this project, which was not attaching any lights to the towers masonry and to give visitors an unrestricted internal view.
The mounting location of the luminaires also provided space for the installation of an emergency stretcher winch which would enable rescue teams to get casualties down from the tower safely in the event of an incident.
If you’re working on a project with a requirement for Hazardous (however peculiar it may be) give us a call to discuss on +44 (0) 1670 520055, or email Raytec Global at hazsales@raytecled.com or Raytec Americas at ushazsales@raytecled.com.
