Sydney Domestic Airport

Frequented by up to 50 million travellers per year and as one of the world’s longest continuously operating commercial airports, Sydney Airport is the beating heart of Australian business, tourism and connectivity.

The Brief

Designed by Design Inc, the objectives of the T2 Domestic Airport refurbishment was to create a modern aesthetic, enhance the traveller experience, showcase the food and beverage and speciality retail outlets, whilst improving traffic flow and sight-lines. Essential to each objective was, of course, lighting, and we were presented with the specific challenge to balance artificial light with natural light, enhancing flow and safety for travellers in this dynamic space.

Project Challenges

• Sydney is the busiest airport in Australia and rarely closes. Consequently, lighting installation had to take place without disrupting airport operations.
• A strict and exacting timeline had to be met so as not to interfere with the operations of the terminal and the building refurbishment happening concurrently.
• Lux levels had to be precise across the vast open space whilst meeting strict regulations.

Our Solution

We took a preliminary lighting design and re-scoped the works using our in-house design expertise to provide a practical solution, supported by clear documentation for the technical luminaire specifications. All works on this refurbishment were carried out whilst the airport terminal was fully operational. This required extensive after-hours planning, working to meet Built Construction’s schedule and ensuring the other major works were not disrupted or delayed. The highly complex installation was successfully achieved by working with our trusted partner, Belvia Services. Every element of the design, the supply and the installation of the airport lighting was managed to a high standard, meeting tight timelines, budget and airport requirements.

Results

The end result, Sydney’s new T2 Terminal is now a showcase of innovative lighting concepts in a fast-paced dynamic space. Our solutions have delivered a consistent modern elegance and flow throughout the terminal, generating a greater sense of light and space for patrons to enjoy.

Design Specifications

Our designs emphasise the expansive high arc ceiling of the terminal, creating spaciousness and elegance to attract shoppers. The walk-through link showcases a stunning ceiling featuring industrial-style beams and our Carl track light. A bendable aluminium diffused profile was concealed on the side bulkhead highlighting the curved vertical details, using high-powered linear up lights to play up the arch of the ceiling. In the retail areas, Lightnet’s Matric linear LED recessed profiles were used to provide ambient light, also acting as a visual ceiling feature connecting retail stores to the food and beverage outlets. Our Visi downlights and custom low-glare Levi downlights, supported the design, creating an attractive ambience for travelling patrons. The retail arcade, floor area and lower ceiling corridors feature our black baffle Nero downlight in single and twin recessed downlights. This luminaire was selected specifically providing adjustable light within the parallel ceiling channel, being able to project theatrical pools of light on the floor, used in conjunction with the ceiling skylights to offer soft ambient light.

The crowning jewel is positioned in the rotunda round central area, a 12m Lightnet Ringo Star pendant. Shaped and conformed to the circular design of the ceiling, the Ringo Star provides a striking highlight to the open space with the skylight structure above. This infinite band of light with an opal diffuser sits approximately 8.7m from the floor, using high-output LED to achieve the required light levels without the need to incorporate any other light source in this space.