Waltham Forest delivers borough-wide LED retrofit with Acrospire

The London Borough of Waltham Forest has partnered with Acrospire to deliver a borough-wide LED retrofit programme, upgrading around 500 street lighting lanterns using a bespoke retrofit solution designed to preserve the character of residential streets while improving energy efficiency.

Rather than replacing existing luminaires entirely, the scheme focuses on retaining the original lantern housings and upgrading the internal components with modern LED technology. The approach has enabled the Council to significantly reduce energy consumption, minimise installation disruption and reduce material waste, while maintaining the distinctive appearance of the borough’s lighting stock.

Many of the borough’s lanterns feature a curved architectural design that differs from conventional ‘shoebox’-style luminaires commonly used in street lighting applications. While visually suited to the surrounding streetscape, the fittings relied on ageing lighting technology that consumed more energy and required increasing levels of maintenance.

Backed by funding from the Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund, the Council explored options for upgrading the assets without undertaking a full luminaire replacement programme. The strategy aimed to reduce costs, avoid unnecessary waste and limit disruption for residents during installation works.

Working alongside the Council’s term contractor, JB Riney, Acrospire developed and delivered a bespoke LED retrofit kit that allows the original lantern housing to remain in place while replacing the internal lighting components.

More than 500 lanterns are being upgraded as part of the programme, with the retrofit delivering an approximate 45% reduction in circuit wattage compared with the previous installation.

Installation works were completed in situ, with each lantern retrofit taking around five minutes, supporting rapid deployment across the borough while minimising disruption to local communities.

The upgraded luminaires were specified at 3000K, providing a warmer light output aligned with the Council’s preferences for residential environments and helping to maintain the character of neighbourhood streets.