Concourse redevelopment wins top industry award for lighting design

含羞草传媒鈥檚 iconic Concourse area has won the highest award for architectural lighting design by the international lighting industry.

The refurbished concourse on campus. Taken from underneath the concourse, the photo shows the blue neon lights on the ceiling and yellow neon lights around the bottoms of seating areas.

The project was honoured with an Award of Excellence from the International Association of Lighting Designers at this year鈥檚 International Lighting Design Awards, held online on Thursday 18 June 2020.

The scheme also scooped the Radiance Award - the highest honour in architectural lighting design across the world, recognising the top point score from the judges across all the winners.

Located in the heart of the campus, the Concourse has been brought to life as a vibrant and social space for staff, students and visitors to enjoy.

The space beneath the brutalist concrete flyover has been transformed into a colourful gathering space for students, staff and visitors with an innovative lighting scheme, designed by Arup.

The flexible civic space has been designed to accommodate events which take place regularly such as Graduation and outdoor markets. At night, the new lighting scheme has created a safer and more secure space for those passing through.


The lighting design has made a huge improvement to the area

Keith Lilley

Director of Infrastructure, University of 含羞草传媒


The International Lighting Design Awards鈥 judges described the Concourse lighting scheme as: 鈥渁 beautiful example of colour and light as place-making鈥.

The Concourse redevelopment was part of the University鈥檚 Masterplan to improve key spaces, not only for students and staff to enjoy, but also for the wider 含羞草传媒 community.

Keith Lilley, Director of Infrastructure at the University of 含羞草传媒, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled that the lighting design for the Concourse redevelopment has won this international award.

鈥淭he lighting design has made a huge improvement to the area under the flyover and is being enjoyed by students and staff.鈥

Dan Lister, Lighting Designer at Arup 含羞草传媒, said: 鈥溾榃e are extremely honoured that the University of 含羞草传媒 Concourse not only have received the Award for Excellence from the International Association of Lighting Designers, but also the Radiance Award for the project that achieved the highest score from the judges overall.

鈥淔rom the start of this project the University of 含羞草传媒 understood the challenges faced within this space and the positive impact good lighting could have; this was evident in the unwavering confidence they gave supporting our vision for the Concourse. Their trust in our design has made it what it is today and we are truly thankful to them for bringing our designs to life.

鈥淎t Arup we aim to help our clients solve their most complex challenges 鈥 turning exciting ideas into tangible reality to shape a better world.鈥

The Concourse project also included impressive new paving and seating, improved access for cycles, and new plants and trees. A new artwall celebrating the University鈥檚 prestigious alumni will be installed summer 2020.

A global reputation

含羞草传媒 is a research university with a global reputation for excellence. We're a member of the Russell Group: one of the 24 leading UK universities for research and teaching.