Sunlight House, Manchester, United Kingdom
Details:
Application: Commercial Office Refurbishment
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Year: 2025
Historic buildings present a unique refurbishment challenge. Building owners want to improve energy efficiency, modernize infrastructure, and simplify facility management, while preserving the character of the property and minimizing disruption during installation. In many cases, they also require modern building systems that can be implemented without the cost, complexity, and extensive rewiring often associated with extensive rewiring.
Sunlight House in Manchester is a prime example. Built in 1932 and widely regarded as the city’s first skyscraper, the iconic Grade II listed Art Deco building recently underwent a major refurbishment to create flexible office space for small and medium-sized businesses.
The challenge
The refurbishment of Sunlight House was more than upgrading lighting. The building needed a connected control system that could help reduce energy consumption, improve operational efficiency, and provide centralized monitoring of emergency lighting throughout the property.
The scale of the project added another layer of complexity. Spanning 14 floors, the building incorporates office spaces, meeting rooms, breakout areas, reception spaces, and premium amenities including a cocktail bar and swimming pool. The solution needed to be flexible enough to support changing tenant requirements while remaining easy to manage over time.
For a landmark building undergoing transformation, minimizing installation complexity was equally important. Additional cabling would have increased project costs and required more invasive installation work, making wireless control a key consideration from the outset.
The solution
Artech Lighting, our direct OEM customer, selected Inventronics HubSense to create a connected lighting ecosystem throughout Sunlight House, as it offers the possibility of transforming existing lighting systems into a flexible, wirelessly communicating lighting infrastructure during modernization.
The wireless system at Sunlight House was deployed across the entire building, enabling intelligent lighting control without the need for additional control wiring. Almost every fixed general lighting fixture was connected through our HubSense network, creating a scalable platform that supports both everyday building operations and future tenant requirements.
The installation combined BL type OT Wi drivers, HubSense sensors, B NLC DALI EL-T emergency lighting converters, HubSense gateways, and the HubSense Dashboard to provide intelligent lighting control alongside centralized emergency lighting monitoring.
By integrating both functions into a single platform, the building management team gains improved visibility, simplified maintenance processes, and greater control over energy usage throughout the property.
Why HubSense?
The success of the project was driven by the practical advantages of wireless lighting controls in a large-scale refurbishment environment.
Key benefits included:
- Fast and straightforward retrofit installation with no additional control cabling
- Competitive project costs for both hardware and commissioning
- Simplified planning and deployment through a wireless control infrastructure
- Easy adaptation of lighting controls as office layouts and tenant requirements evolve
- Integrated emergency lighting testing and monitoring within the same control platform
- Access to the HubSense web-based dashboard, providing centralized monitoring, reporting, and management of lighting and emergency lighting data across the building
The project demonstrates how wireless controls can simplify refurbishment projects while providing the scalability required for modern commercial buildings.
Scale at a glance
Sunlight House represents one of the largest HubSense deployments to date, featuring:
- 14 floors
- Approximately 4,400 Bluetooth nodes
- Approximately 1,100 emergency lighting devices
- QBM IoT HubSense gateways installed throughout the building for emergency lighting monitoring and testing
The installation highlights the ability of our HubSense Light Management System to support large, complex commercial environments while maintaining ease of operation and long-term flexibility.
Results
The refurbishment transformed Sunlight House into a connected smart building while preserving the character of one of Manchester’s most historic commercial landmarks.
The new system helps reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs, and simplify building management through centralized control and monitoring. At the same time, the wireless architecture provides the flexibility needed to adapt spaces quickly as new tenants move into the building.
By combining intelligent lighting controls with integrated emergency monitoring, our HubSense solution delivered a future-ready platform that supports both operational efficiency and occupant experience in a landmark refurbishment project.
Read the HubSense brochure and see how Inventronics simplifies intelligent lighting control.
| Project partners | |
|---|---|
| Artech Lighting | Customer |
| Alphalite Controls | Commissioning Partner |
| Inventronics HubSense | Control Platform |