DFS Refit

The Brief

After reviewing the market and potential suppliers, Kosnic Lighting were selected by Westminster Project Services to start the programme nationwide of refitting DFS stores. The brief was simple, using innovative and stylish products Kosnic Lighting were tasked with designing lighting schemes to showcase DFS products while making their retail outlets welcoming to DFS customers.

The Project

DFS are a household name across Europe, specialising in sofas and soft furnishings with stores throughout the UK, Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland. DFS were looking to modernize and refresh the lighting throughout their many retail outlets.

The Solution

With stores open 7 days a week throughout the year, high quality, long lasting products were key to this project. The lighting needed to highlight the products on sale, whilst creating a warm and inviting ambiance.

The lighting design was comprised of a variety of fittings. Ranging from retail downlights with various housings to interior battens and panels in the staff area. As well as the important emergency lighting fitted throughout the building.

The Retail downlight range (Maly) were fitted throughout the stores along with the Nitro, a non-maintained emergency downlight. The Maly range has a large selection of optional housings that can be tilted 30°’s and rotated up to 350°, which is perfect for highlighting certain areas and products in the best possible light. Kosnic Lighting’s Nitro emergency downlights are small, discreet recessed fittings that provide essential emergency lighting.

The project also required light fittings to be spec’d for the back of house areas. For this, the Kali-Pro 23watt LED panel and the integrated Lena-i batten were chosen. The Kali-Pro panel is highly efficient (130lm/W) and an easy-fit replacement for a standard ceiling tile fitting. The panel has an operating life of 40,000 hours and reduces energy costs by up to 50%. The Lena-i batten is a sleek interior batten which has a microwave and corridor function sensor built in.

Kosnic have a vast selection of emergency lighting both in standard and self-test. Whether the requirement calls for emergency modules to work alongside luminaires, such as the Universal Emergency module, or emergency luminaires that work independently, such as the Nitro, Kosnic have the solution. This gave the DFS group plenty of choice when it came to choosing the lighting for their refits.

The Result

Working with the DFS Group, Wholesaler ESS Lighting, and Westminster Project Services, Josh Whitehead-Davies one of Kosnic’s Project designers and Lee Bracknall Kosnic’s area sales representative, have to date upgraded 11 DFS stores. With the success of the ongoing DFS project, the DFS Group are now rolling out the upgrades to Tempur Beds and Sofa Workshop stores as well.