The Gilbert & One Lackington, UK
Unibox supplied bespoke ceiling lightboxes for the transformative redevelopment of one of London’s premier Arc Deco buildings.
Unibox worked alongside London-based architects, Stiff + Trevillion, to design, engineer and manufacture a series of custom LED lightboxes for the ambitious project to refurbish and modernise The Gilbert & One Lackington. The 200,000sqft site in the heart of Finsbury is one of the capital’s best examples of 1930s architecture and provides premium office facilities and social spaces to the businesses that are shaping the future of global commerce.
Using its familiarity of the legal and logistical criteria to which all commercial developments are held, Unibox advised that the lightboxes should be engineered using DXNR diffusers – a type of fire-retardant polycarbonate that boasts one of the best light transmission percentages, thereby maximising the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the building when in use. The lightboxes also include dimmable LEDs to allow tenants to adjust light levels to their individual preferences, an integrated emergency lighting system and access hatches to allow for routine maintenance of the onsite M&E plant.
To uphold the development’s environmental objectives and ensure it would succeed in meeting the BREEAM standard of “Very Good”, Unibox took great care to incorporate sustainable materials and technologies into the design of the lightboxes from the outset. Each of the 12sqm lightboxes operates using energy-efficient LED modules and recyclable aluminium profiles – a significant proportion of which is from recycled sources – to limit the building’s carbon footprint and reduce the quantities of raw materials in circulation. The lightboxes sit alongside a carefully curated scheme of fixtures and construction processes that, together, prevented the production of 52,000 TCO2.
To complement a palette of warm, brassy finishes and crisp, geometric lines, Unibox produced prototypes in a range of different material and LED specifications to fill its client with the confidence that, once installed, the lightboxes would sit as a natural extension of the building’s stylised interior design scheme.
An exquisite fusion of old and new, The Gilbert pays homage to the original building’s rich heritage. Unibox worked in close collaboration with Stiff + Trevillion to ensure that the lightboxes supplied for main reception area of each floor embodied the opulence and idealism for which the Art Deco period was renowned whilst delivering the optimum Lux levels required by modern tenants.
Stiff + Trevillion celebrated its experience of partnering with Unibox on this project, commenting that: “The lightboxes are absolutely fantastic, and the reception has been described as a ‘knock-out’ space. The client is thrilled with the result, as are we, and the response from the agents so far has been brilliant.”
