Enfis and Cooper Lighting Come Together to Deliver Visionary Lighting Solution for Iconic Structure in Abu Dhabi

It’s the Yas Hotel, a 500-room, 85,000-square-meter complex recently completed by Aldar Properties PJSC, Abu Dhabi's leading property development, management and investment company; just in time for the inaugural 2009 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which has just taken place from 30 October to 1 November. And it’s a study in how the marriage of ancient customs and a cutting-edge technical partnership can create surprising and unique results. The Hotel is unique as the only hotel in the world with a race track running through its centre.  The start of the inaugural F1 race on 1 November was re-scheduled to commence at dusk and finish in the dark in order to show the viewers of the Grand Prix the building’s full potential.

Many disciplines come together:
The project represents collaboration between many disciplines, among them two primary entities: UK based Cooper Lighting, a lighting solutions design and engineering firm and Swansea-based Enfis Group Plc, a developer and manufacturer of SMART high-power solid state LED lighting systems.

The hotel’s design was the brainchild of Asymptote Architecture, the New York-based architectural firm known for creating visionary building designs, master plans, and spatial experiments that challenge the traditional boundaries of architecture and integrate the potential of new technologies. The Yas Hotel truly embodies everything that is exciting about advanced contemporary design.

Impressive numbers:
Of architectural and engineering significance is the main feature of the project’s design, a 217-meter expanse of sweeping, curvilinear forms constructed of steel and over 5,300 pivoting diamond-shaped glass panels which are illuminated via a sophisticated LED lighting system from Enfis Group Plc, providing limitless shades and colors. This grid-shell component gives the building an atmospheric-like veil that contains two hotel towers and a link bridge constructed as a monocoque sculpted steel object passing above the Formula 1 track that makes its way through the building complex.

From the outside, the Enfis LED color changing shroud can be seen for miles around. It visually connects and fuses the entire hotel, racetrack and marina complex while producing optical effects and spectral reflections that play against the surrounding sky, sea and desert landscape. The architecture as a whole “performs” as both an environmentally responsive solution as well as an architecture of spectacle and event. The entire jewel-like composition of the project responds visually and tectonically to its environment to create a distinct and powerful sense of place as well as a breathtaking backdrop to the Formula 1 and other events that the building will celebrate in years to come. The Yas Hotel is designed to be a significant landmark destination on Yas Island for Abu Dhabi and the UAE at large.

Enfis and Cooper Lighting - A collaboration of contrast:
The desert climate of Abu Dhabi can reach 60 °C in the summertime making havoc out of just about every form of light source – incandescent or LED.  But as Managing Director of Cooper Lighting, Gavin Smith, stated, “Right from the beginning we knew that ambient would be a major challenge considering the inherent performance limitations for LEDs components and driver technology. We carried out numerous studies testing products from some of the world’s major LED manufacturers.” Smith went on to say, “Our collaboration with Enfis solved this problem almost immediately. The Enfis array/driver solutions were the only systems that passed our rigorous environmental chamber trials.”

Extensive testing carried out by Cooper confirmed that the Enfis array/driver solutions actually exceeded the light output specification necessary to operate at these extreme ambient temperatures. Furthermore, Enfis SMART driver and LED array technology also offered Cooper:

a) the ability to control each LED array, setting them to any desired color within a 4.2 billion color palette;
b) two-way communication with each driver/array combination via Enfis software providing real-time monitoring of fixture temperature, CCT and energy consumption; and 
c) Remote Desk Management (RDM) DMX capabilities.

The collaborative team saw off competition from some of the world’s largest lighting enterprises by handling the technical demands of the project.

Enfis specializes in super-bright solid-state LED lighting arrays that allow for optimum light output and extraordinary heat management. Their products, which also allow for color variability and sleek, compact designs, have introduced LEDs to applications that were until recently only possible with traditional lighting sources.

The ongoing ability of Cooper and Enfis to work as a team in response to the highly complex and challenging environmental needs of the Yas Hotel project is a source of pride at both organizations. “I believe the designers are able to create the lighting effects they originally envisioned for this project due in large part to the ability of Cooper to come through with solutions,” said Smith. “And I also believe Cooper was able to come through with those solutions in large part because of Enfis.”

“The team at Cooper Lighting was great to work with, they have a unique technical acumen for how to drive LEDs, and how to package them in a fixture, and more importantly, how to integrate it all into a unique environment such as this massive structure,” said Shaun Oxenham, Chairman of Enfis. “The result is a truly iconic structure that will be admired and enjoyed for generations to come. It really captures the whole essence of how to use solid-state LED lighting for achieving architectural excellence.”

In the end, Cooper used over 5,850 Enfis LED arrays in its lighting design for the exterior environs of the Yas Hotel complex. The products consisted primarily of Enfis 4-channel UNO Plus arrays and control drivers integrated into custom designed IP65 rated stainless steel stanchions. The result is a testament to the “above and beyond” effort of the two companies working together.

About Cooper Lighting:
Cooper Lighting & Safety (www.cooper-ls.com) offer a comprehensive product range including mains lighting from Crompton Lighting, architectural lighting from Axent and both emergency lighting and fire detection systems from Menvier & JSB. Cooper Lighting & Safety is one of the operating companies of Cooper Safety.
Cooper Safety is a leading manufacturer of emergency lighting, security, fire detection and Notification systems also offering lighting fixtures, and electrical installation materials.
Our well-known brands and products can be found in a whole variety of industrial, commercial, and domestic settings providing protection to both life and property by offering fire and security detection, and escape route illumination in the event of an emergency. Under normal conditions our products offer professional lighting solutions and high specification installation materials.
Headquartered in Royal Leamington Spa, England, Cooper Safety comprises 11 different operating companies located in the UK, mainland Europe and North America. Together these businesses utilise in excess of 1 million square feet of modern manufacturing and warehousing space, and currently employ over 2000 people.
Cooper Safety is a division of Cooper Industries, Ltd., a USA based Fortune 500 company.

About Enfis:
The Enfis Group Plc (LSE: ENF) designs, manufactures and markets intelligent, high-power, 'tunable' LED lighting with a focus on providing cutting-edge solutions that can be easily integrated into luminaires, fixtures and custom projects. The company’s expertise covers semiconductor technology, packaging, thermal management, optics, electronic design, software and volume manufacturing.
Enfis 'smart' LED array technology offers luminarie and fixture manufacturers unsurpassed optical white light output. Their ultra-bright, multi-watt, multi-wavelength 'smart' LEDs are designed so that each wavelength can be individually controlled and monitored. Each Enfis 'smart' LED array has active color temperature and heat-sensing components that control, calibrate and regulate the light output of each wavelength on the array for the lifetime of the component.
More information about the company’s LED products and solid-state lighting technologies can be found at www.enfis.com.