Grayshott is a small village in Hampshire. Over the years, the central Square had become neglected and rundown. Grayshott Parish Council, who own the square, in partnership with Hants CC and East Hampshire District Council worked together to enhance the environment of the Square. The scheme was designed by HCC and will be maintained by the Parish Council who had requested that both landscaping and lighting had to be low-key, low maintenance with minimal running costs.
Aims
The project involved the renovation of a small public square in the Hants village of Grayshott on the Hants/Surrey border. One side is bounded by the High Street. The other three sides have small shops at ground level with housing/flats above. The square has a car park behind the shops and the main use of the Square is as route from the car park to the High Street. There is a stepped podium at one end to account for a change in levels.
Challenges
There were three main constraints. Firstly, the residents overlooking the square wanted the space to remain unlit, or with as little light as possible. Since the square was private and not adoptable by Hants CC, there was no mandatory reason to illuminate it. However, in the opinion of Hants CC and Designs for Lighting Ltd the square required some illumination because it acted as a route from the car park to the High St. The stepped podium should also be illuminated both for decorative and DDA reasons. Similarly, the site would be enhanced by lighting the decorative granite ball above the podium.
The second constraint was a £10K budget for the lighting equipment. The third was that no columns would be allowed in the square. Neither could luminaires be attached to the walls because of the need for wayleaves.
Design
The village is in a rural part of Hampshire, the night sky is dark and there is little movement after dark. The design decision was made to use low brightness sources in the ground for wayfinding. This would avoid glare to the residents. Similarly, the stepped podium is illuminated with 5mm LED clusters rather than the ubiquitous High Brightness ones. As well as being less intense, they also consume less power. Additional illumination is provided from narrow angle uplights reflecting light off the trees. Upward light is contained within the foliage.
The main viewing position is from the High Street and so the tree uplights are positioned and angled (7 degrees) to light the face of the trunk towards that direction.
There was a demand for some decorative lighting for Xmas holidays and village events. For most of the year, the granite ball is illuminated with 12 small spotlights giving white light produced from fibre optics because there was no space for conventional recessed units. The miniature fibre optic projector (150mm x 75 x 75) includes pre-set colour scenes and is powered by 21w of LEDs. The cabinet for the FO projector also includes a power socket for Christmas illuminations and PA systems.
The underside of the benches is illuminated with linear low brightness LEDs that match the shape of the bench. Similar to the podium, there is a power socket under each bench for sound systems.
Client: Grayshott Parish Council
Design Team: Designs for Lighting Ltd – Lighting
| Area | Description | Qty | Load | Total | Switching |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trees | 6× 1w LED uplight | 4 | 9 | 36 | Part night |
| Alley | 18w PL | 2 | 24 | 48 | All night |
| Alley | 1w paver | 16 | 1.5 | 24 | All night |
| Tree benches | LED strip | 4 | 12 | 48 | All night |
| Podium steps | 1w paver | 60 | 1.5 | 90 | Part night |
| Bike racks | 18w PL | 1 | 24 | 24 | All night |
| Landmark feature | 24 | 48 | Part night | ||
| Paving | LED strips | 11 | 8 | 88 | All night |