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Jun
Plans submitted to install LED lighting in Harrogate’s Royal Hall
Plans have been submitted to install LED lamps and controls at Harrogate's Royal Hall.
The Royal Hall, which opened in 1903, is one of the town's most prominent buildings.
The grade two listed building is part of the Harrogate Convention Centre, which submitted the lighting application to the council, which owns it.
The application states reduced energy costs and improved lighting and emergency lighting levels as the reason for refurbishment. It adds that it will respect the building’s “historic character”.
The lighting replacement is expected to cover the entire hall, where all the lighting will be swapped to ETC LED arc lamps. The new lamps will have 0-100% dimming, operated by four newly installed control panels.
New supplementary LED luminaires and new LED primary and emergency lighting – to staircases adjacent to seating areas – will be added to the building.
Four repaired chandeliers will also be reinstated with dimmable LED lights.
The application says the works are designed to be minimally invasive:
The appearance of the Royal Hall will be carefully preserved throughout the lighting upgrade works, with all interventions designed to be visually sympathetic to the building’s Grade II* listed status.
Existing heritage features, such as the four main chandeliers, will be repaired and reinstated at their original high-level positions to maintain the historic character of the interior.
All new lighting fittings, including supplementary LED fixtures and LED arc lamps, will be selected and installed in a manner that complements the hall’s ornate architectural detailing.
The Stray Ferret contacted North Yorkshire Council this week to find out more about the proposed works.
LED lighting can be harsher than standard bulbs, so we asked whether there was a risk to the ambience of the building.
A spokesperson for the council said:
The installation will be carefully colour-matched to ensure the ambience is maintained and improved.
This project is to move from lamps no longer being manufactured which is expected to deliver considerable energy savings, as well as not needing to re-lamp the hall several times a year.
This is currently the subject of a live planning application and public consultation, so we cannot advise at this stage on timescales.
The council did not disclose how much this would cost.
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