Established as one of the first institutions in the enlivened, independent Poland, the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland, better known as NIK (short for Najwyzsza Izba Kontroli), has been recently revived by a GRIVEN LED lighting system.  
 

From its very first day, NIK has been the country's supreme audit institution, empowered to exercise wide-ranging audit of the revenue and expenditure of the state and of all institutions, authorities or corporations that benefit from public funds. NIK performs audits related to the execution of the state budget as well as public finance spending and management of public property by state and local governmental bodies and economic entities. 
 

Among the oldest state institutions in Poland, NIK was founded under the Second Republic on February 7, 1919, barely 3 months after the restoration of Poland's independence, on the initiative of the Head of State, Józef Piłsudski. Known as one of the country’s greatest revolutionaries, patriots and statesmen, Piłsudski was the first chief of state (1918–22) of the newly independent Poland established in November 1918 and remained a prominent figure in the history and politics life of Poland for many years.

 

The headquarters of the Supreme Audit Office
Within a general renovation plan regarding the existing lighting system of the NIK building right in proximity of its hundredth anniversary, the responsible authorities decided to make a general improvement through the installation of a brand new LED colour changing equipment. The initial requirements involved the capability of the specified lighting fixtures to work at very low temperatures, quite typical during the long Polish winters. While in the previous lighting scheme only some details of the building were enhanced in white light, the new layout was required to offer, besides the possibility to highlight single details, also a uniform wall washing effect in bright, dynamically changing colours.

 

To do so, based on the lighting design of the Polish lighting company Prolight Sp. O.o., 29 units of Ruby Recessed in warm white have been embedded in correspondence of the square columns of the front and side buildings in order to emphasize them with a narrow ray of light up to the cornice. A general wall wash effect is then delivered with the help of 32 units of Powershine MK2 S in RGBW colour configuration with spot optics. The powerful floodlights reach the entire façade with an even colour distribution used, for instance, to reproduce the colours of the Polish flag in official occasions, or to enliven with bright colours the whole building complex at night. To complete the lighting design, 2 units of Jade 16 in warm white have been mounted on the corners of the upper gable to enhance its architectural features in a warm shade of white. A projection of the NIK founder Józef Piłsudski completes the layout in the festive occasions.

 

In order to comply with the project prerequisites, both JADE 16 and POWERSHINE MK2 S fixtures have been specified in the Polar Edition, which features an integrated de-icing system with electrically heated glass for a comfortable functioning even in the utmost severe cold weather conditions. 

 

29X AL4992NAWW RUBY RECESSED NARROW OPTICS WARM WHITE

  2X AL4050NAWWPE JADE 16 NARROW WW POLAR EDITION

32X AL3700APE POWERSHINE MK2 S RGBW SPOT POLAR EDITION

 

Lighting design and installation: Prolight Sp. o.o. 

Photos: Prolight Sp. o.o.