Overview
When Concertus Ltd, a leading building design consultancy, took on the development of a new grain storage facility in East Anglia, they faced a unique challenge - designing a lighting system for a hazardous area that complied with ATEX regulations while ensuring food safety and operational flexibility.
Kellwood Lighting was chosen to provide an innovative and compliant lighting solution tailored to these complex requirements.
Objectives and Challenges
Grain storage environments present a distinct set of risks. Dust particles from stored grain can create potentially explosive atmospheres, requiring all electrical installations to meet stringent ATEX safety standards.
In addition, because grain is a foodstuff, glass components had to be avoided to minimise contamination risk.
Concertus Ltd required a lighting scheme that achieved 100 lux for general operations and 1 lux for emergency situations, ensuring both productivity and safety.
The client also needed flexibility in lighting layout to accommodate future changes within the facility.
The project demanded a robust, energy-efficient, and compliant lighting system that could be installed cost-effectively while maintaining high performance and reliability in a challenging environment.
The Solution
Kellwood Lighting designed and supplied a bespoke lighting solution built around the Stanford Series ATEX-rated Bay lights. The final design incorporated 14 units of 60W luminaires, each operating at an efficiency greater than 130 lm/W, ensuring excellent energy performance without compromising illumination quality.
To meet emergency lighting requirements, six luminaires were specified as 3-hour maintained emergency versions, providing a consistent minimum of 1 lux across the escape routes. The design achieved average lux levels exceeding 100 lux, with uniformity above 0.7 and glare (UGR) below 25, ensuring visual comfort and compliance.
To support food safety standards, Kellwood supplied luminaires with impact-resistant polycarbonate diffusers instead of glass. Each fitting included an eyebolt mount, allowing easy suspension at the designed height. The lights were delivered as wire-in-wire-out ready units complete with additional ATEX glands, minimising the need for separate ATEX-rated junction boxes - a key factor in reducing installation time and cost.
This approach not only ensured compliance with hazardous area standards but also offered flexibility for layout adjustments, enabling the client to adapt the lighting arrangement as operational needs evolved.
The Results
The completed installation met and exceeded all client requirements. The lighting design provided uniform illumination exceeding the 100 lux target, while maintaining low glare and optimised energy efficiency. The emergency lighting scheme delivered reliable 1 lux coverage throughout the facility, ensuring compliance with escape route lighting criteria.
By combining energy-efficient performance, ease of installation, and food-safe construction, Kellwood Lighting helped Concertus Ltd achieve a safe, compliant, and adaptable lighting environment for the grain store. The use of wire-in-wire-out luminaires also reduced labour and material costs, delivering a cost-effective solution without compromise.
Conclusion
This project showcases Kellwood Lighting’s expertise in delivering application-specific, ATEX-certified lighting solutions for hazardous environments. Through careful design, technical innovation, and attention to detail, Kellwood ensured Concertus Ltd’s East Anglia grain store achieved the perfect balance of safety, performance, and efficiency.
If your facility operates in a hazardous or specialist environment, contact Kellwood Lighting today to discuss how our bespoke lighting designs can enhance safety, compliance, and operational efficiency.
74% forecast energy saving
