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The Garrison office complex – a successful pilot

The Garrison complex occupies an entire block in the old city and is the largest office complex in Stockholm. It is where flextime was invented in the 1970s. In an effort to try a new lighting concept, the managers launched a pilot project and the electrical consultant chose Casambi solution for its flexibility and cost-effectiveness. “Casambi was new to us, but it was smooth and quick to install”, says André Lindström of Södra Installationsgruppen.

The giant Garrison complex occupies an entire block in downtown Stockholm. The older parts were originally barracks buildings, while the more modern office buildings were added during the 1960s and 1970s. Klarahuset with its 350 meter long building body was completed in 1972 and had room for 4,600 employees. To avoid traffic in a nearby metro station when so many people would get to and from work at the same time, the flex time was introduced.

Today, the Garrison has 180,000 square meters of premises with offices of more than 200 companies. Adjustments of premises for new tenants are carried out continuously. In the early summer of 2019, a pilot project was launched by the property owners to try a new concept for controlling and monitoring lighting in an 800 square meters space. The task of developing a solution proposal went to Electro Engineering, which chose to use Casambi wireless system. The installation itself was then carried out by Södra Installationsgruppen.

Casambi was an easy choice

Casambi is a proven, tested and reliable system for wireless lighting control. With Casambi, all luminaires and other devices can communicate with each other completely wirelessly via Bluetooth. There are thousands of luminaires, drivers and control components in the Casambi Ready ecosystem. All devices, regardless of manufacturer, are 100% compatible with each other. You can choose the products you want, and as long as they are Casambi Ready, they will work together.

Unlike traditional DALI installation, Casambi does not require complex programming. All settings can be made using th Casambi App, which is free and available for both iOS and Android. You don’t need an expert to do it. Any electrician can set the network and configure the devices from his / her cellphone or tablet. The app also offers great flexibility, as it is easy to make additions and changes, even after commissioning.

For the pilot project at the Garrison, the electrical consultant at Electro Engineering designed a Casambi system with units from Vadsbo in the solution proposal. Johan Sandberg from Vadsbo, who is both a sales representative and a lighting specialist with a background in technical support, has previously met Electro Engineering and and presented Casambi.

– We like to reach out and present our products, says Johan. We sent samples to Electro Engineering which they were able to test independently. We continued to have contact together and they liked the system. Even before the launch of the pilot project at the Garrison, the electrical consultant did a small project with Casambi. The system worked well and thus they were well ready to use our service again for a larger project.

“Flexible installation”

The installation was carried out by Södra Installationsgruppen AB, under the leadership of André Lindström. The basis was an installation drawing, where the Casambi system was drawn and the units from Vadsbo were specified with article numbers. There was also a technical description, with a functional description of the lighting in the room’s various spaces.

This was a new experience for the electricity company because they have never worked with Casambi before.

– It worked very well. It was easy to install and it saved us a lot of installation time, says André. Since Casambi is wireless, smaller installation materials are used and a lot of wiring is avoided.

Although the installing technicians managed most things on their own, there were some questions about some technical details.

– The communication with Vadsbo was great. They are expert and know their system very well. If they do not answer immediately when you call, they always get in touch with us later, says André.

Help when needed

After all switches, dimmers, sensors and control units have been installed, the system needs to be programmed, which is done in the Casambi app. The app finds all the devices itself and you just have to choose to connect them in a network. The next step is to create the settings necessary for the lighting to perform its intended function, e.g. by specifying the device that a sensor will control and in what way.

– Casambi was new to us, so we needed to learn how to program the system, says André. It was not a major problem, the app itself is quite informative. We did some reading and found manuals on the internet and then we started working on it and it was not that difficult. We were able to solve most of the problems ourselves. However, we needed a little help with the condition control, so we called Johan Sandberg at Vadsbo, says André. His contact details were in the technical description of the documentation.

– André called and told me that they were working on the installation and had some questions, says Johan. Then I went there, so we could go through the last thing on site. It’s great when they do as much as possible themselves, but when they need help, we will always have their back.

Everything was already connected and ready to go when Johan came to the Garrison

It was only the condition control that the technicians did not really manage to figure out. Condition control is about control the hierarchy of units. For example, a motion detector and a pushbutton should be at the top of the chain and override the other units.

– At the first installation, it was a bit difficult to figure out how to install the condition control. But after we learned it, we were able to install another Casambi project with no problems. Now we know exactly how to set it up, says André.

Flexible and time-saving

André also emphasizes the flexibility and time-savings that are possible with Casambi, both during installation and after commissioning. He gives an example from the project at the Garrison.

– Immediately after the inspection, we received a request from the tenant that they wanted an extra push button in one of the rooms. They wanted to be able to control different parts of the room with the same button. All we had to do was to change the front piece of the switch from a single rocker to a double rocker. We then made a little change in the app, and it was ready to go. So it took us about 10 minutes instead of maybe four hours with another solution. It is a very flexible solution, says André.

– This could be very useful if, for example, you have a room that needs minimal interventions. You can simply choose the Casambi system to make the least possible intervention, says André.

Is it because you do not have to pull cable?

– Exactly, then you can hide the installation in another way. Plus, the installation will be cheaper. You only have to choose the luminaires you want to change, set up Vadsbo’s wireless and battery-free buttons, and the system is ready to go. No wiring is needed, none.

More smart projects with Casambi in the future

Södra Installationsgruppen cannot be mistaken when it chose and recommended Casambi, both for the system’s flexibility and time-saving.

So, are you a Casambi expert now?

– Yes, more or less, laughs André Lindström. We are now working on the third project using Casambi along with Vadsbo’s units and some other brands that can be integrated together. Our choice to use Casambi has made the procurement process much easier.

The property owner Vasakronan also seems very satisfied with our service, which makes Johan Sandberg at Vadsbo very glad.

– I have not talked to Vasakronan directly, but since they ordered a sequel, they must have thought it worked well. The Casambi solution will now also be used for the upcoming stages at the Garrison.

Functions in the project/app

Timer control
Astro-clock function
Scenarios
Animations

Many thanks to André and Södra Installationsgruppen AB
who have done / are doing a fantastic job in the Garrison.

Do you also want to collaborate with Södra installationsgruppen AB?
andre.lindstrom@s-installation.se
Tel: 072 503 87 35
Bogårdsvägen 45
128 62 Sköndal

– Casambi was new to us, so we needed to learn how to program the system, says André. It was not a major problem, the app itself is quite informative. We did some reading and found manuals on the internet and then we started working on it and it was not that difficult. We were able to solve most of the problems ourselves. However, we needed a little help with the condition control, so we called Johan Sandberg at Vadsbo, says André. His contact details were in the technical description of the documentation.

– André called and told me that they were working on the installation and had some questions, says Johan. Then I went there, so we could go through the last thing on site. It’s great when they do as much as possible themselves, but when they need help, we will always have their back.

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