Designing and installing appropriate electrical fit-out in properties improves the quality of our life and environment. Particularly when existing buildings undergo refurbishment, the goal is to enhance energy efficiency and reduce costs. More importantly, the purpose of adopting new electrical services is to create and sustain a comfortable living environment for all occupants.

Take Gateshead Council, in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne. One of the council-run nursing homes was built in the 1930s and has recently undergone electrical refurbishment. Because this nursing home cares for elderly people with advanced dementia, one major concern when designing the new electrical fit-out was to provide appropriate lighting for those who are disoriented with their surroundings. This issue was properly handled by installing a lighting control system that ensures lights come on when and where they are needed.

Throughout the corridors, residents’ rooms, communal areas and staff offices, presence detectors are installed to activate the lights when people enter and deactivate them when these areas are empty. Outdoors, a combination of sensors and timers ensures the exterior lights come on when it gets dark and are automatically turned off every night. To provide flexibility, all lighting controls are used alongside manual switching. Residents are encouraged to use the large-sized green switches and retain some independence in the use of electric light.

Finally, the lighting controls are integrated into emergency facilities, such as the nurse-call and fire alarm systems. The former interface allows lights to switch on between specific residents’ rooms and staff offices, enabling nurses to identify where the distress calls come from. The latter interface is designed to enhance patient safety. When the alarm is triggered, only the lights in staff offices and corridors are activated so that staff can respond quickly to the risk of fire and wake up the residents only when necessary and in a controlled manner.