Retail: Doha airport shopping floor
The brief
The shopping area at Doha International Airport is one of the busiest floors in the terminal. All day, travelers pull luggage, push carts and walk across it in every kind of shoe. The design called for thin lines of light set flush into the stone floor: warm 2700K in some zones, cool 6000K in others, running in long straight runs and wide curves between the shops.
That rules out ordinary strip in a channel. A light set into this floor has to take rolling carts and the point load of a heel, stay sealed through daily floor cleaning, and keep the line even across hundreds of joints. The floor pattern also turns at angles other than 90°, so standard square corners would not follow the drawing.
What we supplied
Unitop supplied the UT-APT3055 in-ground linear light, about 16,400 ft (5,000 m) in total, in 2700K and 6000K, all at 24V DC.
The APT3055 is a 30.5 × 54.8 mm (1.2 × 2.16 in) in-ground profile with a 10 mm thick PMMA cover. It is rated IP68 with properly rated accessories and IK10 for impact when installed as instructed, and the manufacturer rates it for loads up to 3,000 kg (about 6,600 lb). Luggage carts and heels are well inside that.
Sections join end to end without a dark gap, so a long run reads as one continuous line. Where the floor pattern turns at an angle other than 90°, we made the corner pieces to order to match the drawing.
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Model | UT-APT3055 in-ground linear light |
| Size | 30.5 × 54.8 mm (1.2 × 2.16 in) |
| Cover | PMMA, 10 mm thick |
| Mounting | Recessed in the floor, flush with the finish |
| Voltage | 24V DC constant voltage |
| Power | 14.4 W/m (4.4 W/ft) |
| Output | 2700K: 1,028 lm/m (313 lm/ft) · 6000K: 1,224 lm/m (373 lm/ft) |
| CRI | Ra > 80 |
| Beam angle | 120° |
| IP rating | IP68, with properly rated accessories |
| Impact rating | IK10, when installed as instructed |
| Load rating | Up to 3,000 kg (about 6,600 lb), manufacturer rating |
| Section length | Up to 6.56 ft (2 m) |
| Max run | 16.4 ft (5 m) fed from one end; 32.8 ft (10 m) fed from both ends |
| Joints | Seamless end to end; custom corners for non-90° turns |
| Colors used | 2700K, 6000K |
| Total quantity | About 16,400 ft (5,000 m) |
The result
The shopping area was completed in 2019. Warm lines follow the curved walkways around the shops, and cool white lines cut across the open floor, all set flush so carts and cases roll straight over them.
For contractors, the lesson from a public floor is to ask for more than an IP rating. Check the load and impact (IK) ratings too, and send the floor drawing early: angled corners are made to order and need to be in the schedule.