Concord Equinox is setting new standards

In this interview, Ian Chumbley, Product Architect at Sylvania Lighting, shares the story of Concord Equinox from design to market release and talks about the possibilities that this innovative downlight gives to architects and lighting designers.

Ian, you are one of the product designers who worked on the design of Concord Equinox and the one who brought the product to the market. Tell is how did the story of Concord Equinox begin, and which were the key milestones? 

Ian Chumbley (IC): Indeed, I am one of the three senior product architects working here in Newhaven (UK). I’ve been with the company for just over 3 years now and I have been privileged to work on this exceptional product – Concord Equinox and see through the whole process from prototype to production. 

The idea of Concord Equinox originated after visiting a lighting exhibition and finding there our future technology partner – QuarkStar. Together we have created a very innovative downlight that allows equal diffusion of lighting towards the floor and the ceiling (halo effect). 

From the start we focused on designing a high-quality product, with the right materials, ground-breaking design, and a competitive price. From a design perspective, it was important for us to create a product which to a high extent can be recycled at the end of its lifetime. Plus, a design that is aesthetically pleasing, durable, and one that can be relevant for many years. The overall performance was also obviously a crucial design element. 

This year Concord Equinox won the prestigious RedDot Award 2023 in the product design category. Tell us a bit more about the key design features of Concord Equinox and what makes the product unique to the market? 

(IC): The Concord Equinox optic is the unique feature of the product. It not only emits a punchy direct light, but it also refracts the light back onto the ceiling creating an inspirational halo effect. The size of the halo effect can be manually adjusted to create the desired ambiance. I like the way the light emitters are not seen within the optic creating an elegant and seamless design. 

The light engine within Concord Equinox has been designed in Newhaven and produced on our own SMT line. It has been designed to give an effective lumen output of up to 2500lm with high colour rendering CRI<90 as standard, leaving colours looking vivid, natural, and true.

It has also been designed with efficiency in mind and achieves 125lm/W at 100Khrs (L70B50) lifespan. The optic produces a maintenance free less than 18 glare ratio enabling more areas where this elegant downlight can be installed, for instance: office environments over computers, café and canteen areas or clothes shop walkways etc.  
 
Our SylSmart Standalone (SSC) control system allows the product to be dimmed and timed to switch on and off at set times. It can also be easily programmed with our mobile phone app. In addition, our Tunable White version uses SSC to tune its colour from either warm white through to daylight (2700-6500k) to set the desired mood. Having a high CRI means that the colours of an object appear to the human eye in a more natural and true way. The Tunable White version of Concord Equinox has CRI97, meaning the colours of food, clothing etc. appear as close to natural daylight as possible.

What does the RedDot Award 2023 mean to you? 

(IC): For me, winning the prestigious RedDot Award 2023 for product design is a great morale boost and I am very proud to have participated in this project. It demonstrates that our Concord brand products are of the utmost quality and at the forefront of lighting design standards. This award recognition makes us all proud to be part of a team who has contributed to a product recognized as an industry leader.  

Designing and bringing a product to the market is not a one man show. Everyone from R&D, Supply Chain, through Production and Production Engineering, Sourcing, Marketing, Accounting, Quality have all worked together on this project and we are very proud to say that the product was solely designed and manufactured here in Newhaven (UK). 

How do you see Concord Equinox shaping the lighting design market in the future? 

(IC): Concord Equinox is setting new standards on how light can shape different interiors. The high colour rendering, the LumiNature Tunable White version (2700-6500K) and the SylSmart Standalone technology create unique possibilities for lighting designers and architects to imagine how light will illuminate spaces in a completely different way. It is a high-end offering for retail, hospitality, and office environments. 

Hopefully, in the future we will be able to extend the Concord Equinox range with different sizes and direct versions, so this is not the end! Concord Equinox is unique to the lighting market and is going to continue to be at the cutting edge of lighting design.