Vallentuna Cultural Centre and Library

Extensive lighting control for Vallentuna’s new cultural centre and library

Over five years ago, the decision was made to build a new, larger cultural centre in Vallentuna rather than renovate the old library. The new centre houses a large library, facilities for exhibitions, theatre and music, workshops, a reading corner for children, and a café. The new cultural centre is an important step forward in improvement of the city’s services and creation of a central meeting point for its citizens.

The building consists of a circular three-storey building with large windows and open spaces. It is situated in the city’s central park and is surrounded by trees of the same height to create harmony between the building and its surroundings.

Advanced lighting control

IInside the building, great emphasis was placed on the visual effect of the lighting and its impact on the general atmosphere. This resulted in a number of different luminaire types and light sources being used. A comprehensive control strategy with an advanced lighting control system was therefore required to establish central control of the lighting.
Overall, the lighting is controlled via a DALI network using DALI DSI ballasts, with the luminaires controlled in zones to minimize the total number of DALI addresses in the system. This also facilitates maintenance when a ballast needs to be replaced.
Tridonic PCA EXCEL ballasts are used to control the lighting of the fluorescent lamps, while DALI fasdimmer are used to regulate the light from halogen lamps and DALI relays are used to switch the metal halide lamps on and off. Central control and monitoring are handed via the proDIM winDIM@net system, where all DALI circuits are connected to an IP-based network.

Daylight compensation and control at multiple levels

The proDIM winDIM@net system ensures that all light sources are automatically set for evening scenes or welcome scenes. It is also used to configure daylight compensation for various luminaires in the open spaces based on the signal from a number of proDIM daylight sensors in the building. In offices and conference rooms, the lighting is controlled manually with switches in combination with DALI M-sensors for daylight compensation and to switch off the lighting when no one is present. proDIM winDIM@net also provides a central overview of the lighting to monitor lamp condition and present energy consumption data and error messages.
Parallel to central lighting control, it had to be possible to control the lighting of each floor independently of other floors. This was achieved through use of an x-touchPANEL on each floor. These are configured so that the staff can choose a preprogrammed scene, start a local lighting sequence, or manually dim the lights.

In total, over 800 Tridonic products were used to give Vallentuna’s cultural centre and library dynamic and versatile lighting that can respond to and enhance the various activities that take place in the building. This comprehensive lighting control strategy also reduces energy consumption and environmental impact through daylight control and presence detection. Central control also serves to minimize maintenance since the staff no longer has to patrol the building to inspect the system. The proDIM winDIM@net system ensures that everything is handled simply and easily from a central location.