Located on a prominent gateway site linking South Shields’ riverside area with the town centre, The Word is one of the first projects for the redevelopment of the area, and as such the scheme needed to be successful to provide a striking new focal point in the North East town’s marketplace, in which its community can take great pride, and from which the wider regeneration will develop.

Because of this, the design and construction team created a shining example of an attractive, efficient civic building, encompassing design features that reflect the town’s industrial and manufacturing heritage, enhanced by a complementary, bespoke lighting scheme, developed by Desco, to attract and engage visitors.

At the heart of the development is a bespoke, 6.5-metre wide LED luminaire, designed by Desco and FaulknerBrowns in collaboration with Atelje Lyktan. The chandelier – the largest single fitting ever manufactured by Atelje Lyktan, was custom-made to fit an architectural ceiling recess with the depth of the fitting dictated by the architect’s vision. The installation is comprised of 84 ‘drums’ mounted to a bespoke frame. As the chandelier is literally bolted to the soffit, all cables were hidden within the bespoke mounting frame of the luminaire installation, with the cabling cast within the concrete before the installation design had been completed.

The chandelier was incorporated with tuneable white LEDs, allowing for the atmosphere and mood of the building to be altered depending on the time of day, as Davison explained: “The colour temperature of the fitting is designed to simulate daylight; a warm 2700k light in the morning gradually changes to a colour temperature of 6500k as the sun peaks, then turning back to 2700k tones at sunset.

The winner of four awards at the 2017 RICS Awards including overall ‘Project of the Year’. Since opening in October last year, The Word has been a truly inspiring and interactive community-led centre with a 21st century library. A varied calendar of exhibitions, workshops and events has encouraged new visitors to the town.

Location: The Word Library, South shields
Client: South shields
Architect: Faulkner Browns
Electrical consultant: Desco
Electrician: Imtech
Luminaire: Custom made centre-piece luminaire made up of 82 circular colour changing light drums measuring 6.5 m in diameter