Lighting a landmark with XT LED panels at the old Donald Reid Store, Dunedin
The problem
A grand old warehouse needed modern panel lighting to match its scale
Built in 1881 and restored across 2014-2015, the Donald Reid Store at 77 Vogel Street is one of Dunedin’s most celebrated heritage spaces. The building won the DCC Heritage reuse award in 2013–14. Due to the quality of the internal spaces and offices, judges awarded the refurbishment a winner. Today, it sits at the heart of Dunedin’s vibrant Warehouse Precinct. It houses contemporary office tenancies inside a building with serious character.
The main challenge of this project was scale. The Donald Reid Store features large, open-plan office floors with high ceilings and large rooms. It needed LED panels that could deliver consistent, bright light throughout. The client wanted a luminaire that could be finished in white and silver. They also needed flexibility in how the panels were installed. Suspended mounting was the preference for the open warehouse aesthetic. But surface mounting also had to be an option for specific spaces. And to avoid detracting from the heritage feel, the panels needed to be streamlined and unobtrusive.
The solution —
The modern and customisable LED solution to a heritage problem
The contractor reached out through our online contact form. Following that, it was a matter of working through the details together to get to the right outcome. We nailed down the exact sizing, configurations, and installation kits needed for the project. It was clear the XT LED panel suited the brief. It is a high-performance linear LED luminaire with a slimline 12mm profile. And its click-rail frame system makes it simple to attach suspension kits and surface mounting hardware. It is also available with colour options, which ticked the client’s box on finish flexibility. We then manufactured the panels and delivered them directly to the Dunedin location.
Panel lighting is flexible enough to work across:
- Schools and universities
- Retail complexes and indoor plazas
- Industrial factories and warehouses
- Museums and galleries
The results —
Bright, contemporary panel lighting that suits a landmark space
Overall, the finished result is exactly what the contractor envisioned. The XT LED panels deliver bright, even light across the large open-plan office floors. It illuminates the renovated warehouse without overpowering its heritage character.
The warehouse features polished concrete floors, timber beams, and exposed brick walls. The streamlined profile of the XT luminaires is discreet and blends into the ceiling. Suspended installation reinforces the industrial aesthetic and leaves room for other infrastructure. Meeting rooms with typically flat ceilings use surface-mounted options.
Altogether, this project reflects a contemporary spin on heritage lighting. The office lighting provides consistent clarity while respecting the history of the space.