XHLWX
Workplace

Tencent Binhai Tower — Open-Plan Office Relighting

Shenzhen, China 2025 Workplace
Tencent Binhai Tower — Open-Plan Office Relighting

Project: Tencent Binhai Tower — Floors 17–22 open office relighting Location: 33 Haitian 2nd Rd, Nanshan, Shenzhen Scope: 11,400 m² · 1,860 luminaires · Casambi mesh + sensor-driven daylight harvesting Delivered: Q3 2025

What the engineers were asking for

Quora and Blind threads from Tencent employees in 2024–early 2025 surfaced three repeating complaints: eye strain from glare on dual-monitor workstations facing the south façade; "flickery" recessed panels showing up on Zoom and on screen-recorded code demos; and unequal task light on the north side after 16:00 when daylight harvesting over-dimmed the perimeter. Facilities also needed to hit Tencent's 2025 internal "ESG-A" energy target for the tower.

Design response

Pain pointFix
Glare on monitorsUGR <16 linear pendants over workstation rows, batwing optic 90°×60°
Zoom flickerDrivers <1% PstLM at 10–100% dim, verified per fixture
Uneven dim at perimeterPer-luminaire daylight sensor + Casambi adaptive curve (not zone-averaged)
ESG energy51% kWh reduction vs. 2019 baseline (metered)

Photometric plan

  • Workstation rows: 500 lx maintained, UGR 16, CCT tunable 3500–5000 K
  • Collaboration pods: 300 lx, UGR 19, CCT 4000 K fixed
  • Phone booths: 200 lx, UGR 19, CCT 3000 K for video calls
  • Corridors: 150 lx, motion-on at 30% standby

Circadian programme

Following WELL v2 Light Feature 4: melanopic EDI ≥250 lx at desk plane between 09:00–13:00, dropping to ≤50 lx after 19:00. The Casambi schedule blends with daylight harvesting so the artificial contribution scales smoothly — no visible step changes that employees would notice during the workday.

Gallery

Meeting room with tunable white pendants Meeting room — 4000 K daytime, 3000 K evening. Camera-ready CRI 95.

Open-plan workstation row Open workstations — UGR 16 linear pendants on a 1.5 m grid, batwing optic.

Collaboration pod Collaboration pod — 300 lx vertical for whiteboarding.

Tower exterior at dusk Tencent Binhai Tower — façade lighting is on a separate DALI-2 line, not part of this retrofit.

Verified outcomes

  • Energy: 51% reduction kWh/year (1.42 GWh saved across 6 floors)
  • Employee survey "lighting comfort" score: 6.2 → 8.4 / 10 (n=842)
  • Zoom flicker complaints to IT helpdesk: dropped from 31/month to 0 over 90 days
  • WELL Light recertification: passed on first audit

Designed and commissioned by XHLWX. Photometric reports and Casambi network export available on request.