Illuminating Sustainability: Casambi Smart Lighting at AIR Circular Campus

A Vision of Circularity at Dempsey Hill

Set within a lush 40,000-square-foot green space at Dempsey Hill, AIR Circular Campus and Cooking Club is more than just a dining destination. Designed by the renowned architectural firm OMA (led by David Gianotten and Shinji Takagi) and spearheaded by the visionary minds behind Potato Head and Chefs Matt Orlando and Will Goldfarb, AIR is a platform for sustainability, zero-waste principles, and culinary innovation.

The campus revitalizes a 1970s modernist civil servant clubhouse, transforming it into a vibrant hub featuring a restaurant, open-air bar, fermentation lab, and expansive edible gardens.

With such a strong emphasis on environmental responsibility and architectural preservation, the lighting control system had to be equally forward-thinking. That is where Illum-Tec Pte Ltd and Casambi came in.

The Challenge: Heritage Preservation Meets Modern Control

Lighting a multi-zone, indoor-outdoor campus presents significant technical challenges. Traditional wired lighting control systems (like DALI or KNX) require extensive networks of copper control cables.

In the context of AIR Circular Campus, relying on traditional wiring would have meant:

• Invasive Hacking: Chipping away at the preserved 1970s modernist facade to lay heavy conduits.
• Environmental Waste: Utilizing kilometers of copper cabling, directly contradicting the project's zero-waste and circularity ethos.
• Landscape Disruption: Trenching through the carefully curated 100-meter organic walkway and expansive lawns to connect outdoor fixtures to a central hub.

The Solution: Casambi Wireless Bluetooth Mesh

To align perfectly with the project's sustainable vision, Illum-Tec deployed a comprehensive Casambi wireless lighting control ecosystem. (Explore the full visual gallery in our Project Reference page).

1. Zero Control Wiring

By utilizing Casambi's Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh network, we eliminated the need for physical control cables. Each luminaire, switch, and sensor communicates wirelessly. This drastically reduced the project's material footprint and allowed the electrical contractors to bypass invasive hacking of the heritage structure.

2. Seamless Indoor and Outdoor Synchronization

The AIR campus flows organically from the indoor dining room to the patios and down to the lawn. Casambi's robust mesh network effortlessly bridges these spaces. As the sun sets over Dempsey Hill, automated timers trigger a gentle, synchronized fade across the entire property, transitioning the bright, energetic lunch atmosphere into a warm, intimate evening glow.

3. Ultimate Flexibility for Operators

A dynamic space like a "Cooking Club" and research lab requires highly adaptable lighting. Through the Casambi App and strategically placed wireless switches, the restaurant managers can instantly recall specific lighting scenes tailored for private dining events, cooking classes, or late-night bar service—all without ever needing a technician to reprogram a central server.

Your Partner for Smart Lighting in Singapore

The successful integration at AIR Circular Campus highlights exactly why decentralized, wireless control is the future of architectural lighting. It respects the past by preserving heritage structures, and it protects the future by minimizing material waste.

As a Certified Casambi Commissioning Partner (4C) in Singapore, Illum-Tec is equipped to design, supply, and program intelligent lighting networks for the most demanding hospitality and commercial environments.

View the visual gallery for this project in our Projects Portfolio, orcontact us today to learn how we can bring Casambi to your space.