No_5_1955 — Page 69

BOMBAY

OFFICES

HAVE

SPECIAL

LIGHTING

FITTINGS

sun.

(Above) Concrete louvres on the out- side of the Standard Vacuum Oil Company building in Bombay shield the window spaces from the The building is floodlit with G.E.C. equipment and the louvres show in a pleasing honeycomb effect.

(Right) Good lighting from Osram tubes in G.E.C. fittings are aids to comfortable working conditions one of the offices.

***

(Below) Special fluorescent fillings housing Osram tubes were made, in India for lighting the Standard Facuum Oil Company's new offices In Bombay.

t

67

Beauty and comfortable working condi- tions were the architect's objectives in the design of new Bombay offices for the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company, said Mr. R. T. Burton, the Oil Company's general manager, at the recent official opening. Good lighting is an essential part of the scheme and The General Electric Co. uf India Ltd, designed and made more than 1,000 fittings for it.

This order, with the supply and instal- lation of the 100 line internal telephone exchange, G.E.C. wiring, switchgear and other equipment for the air-conditioning plant, and floodlights totalled £50,000. The impressive new building which has been erected in Sir Jamshedji Tata Road, Bombay, incorporates many advanced features in construction and is air-condi- tioned throughout.

In planning the lighting installation, it was decided not only to provide the high service illumination of 40 lumens per sq. ft. over big floor areas, but to design a scheme which viewed in perspective, would give the impression of height.

The question of lighting was studied in the earliest stages of planning the build- ing. In collaboration with the Oil Com- pany and Mr. John Ritchie, F.R.I.B.A., who was responsible for the interior ar chitectural design, the G.E.C. of India prepared a scheme using Osram hot cath- ode fluorescent tubes in special recessed ceiling fittings made to give soft-tone light on the ceilings with maximum downward illumination. This has been achieved by fixing "Perspex" diffuser panels bent a wide 'U' shape to project below ceiling surface.

In

the

The outside of the building has cement concrete louvres round the four sides. The whole of the interior is air-conditioned and it was calculated that by shielding the window space from the sun a 10% saving would be effected on the power consump- tion of the air-conditioning plant. These louvres give an attractive appearance to the building when it is floodlighted.

The lighting fittings described in this article are products of The General Elec- tric Co., Ltd. of England, who are repre- sented in Hong Kong by their subsidiary, The British General Electric Co., Ltd.