Acıbadem Kartal Hospital
TurkeyAward-Winning Human Centric Lighting at Acibadem Kartal Hospital
Acibadem Kartal Hospital is a major healthcare complex in Istanbul, providing round-the-clock care across a 30,000 m² facility. With 127 beds and 15 operational levels, the hospital operates continuously and demands lighting that supports both clinical precision and patient wellbeing.
Delivered in collaboration with Helvar partner Elekon, the project was recognised at the DALI Lighting Awards 2026, winning the category “Best Human Centric Design”. The project was also delivered in close collaboration with the Acıbadem Project Management team and Berk Apaydın, Electrical Group Director at Acıbadem. Their local expertise and ongoing support were instrumental throughout the design and development phases.
From the outset, the lighting strategy focused on three priorities: improving patient comfort, increasing energy efficiency, and simplifying day-to-day operation for hospital staff. A DALI-based lighting control architecture was implemented throughout the building using Helvar routers, sensors, and control panels to deliver a flexible and reliable solution.
Lighting designed around patient wellbeing
A defining feature of the project is the patient room lighting concept developed specifically for Acibadem hospitals.
Each patient room includes three control points located at the entrance, bedside, and bathroom. These provide access to six predefined lighting scenes: Nurse, Sleep, Relax 1, Relax 2, Living, and Off. The scenes allow lighting conditions to adapt to different needs throughout the day, supporting both medical care and patient comfort.
Lighting is also integrated with the nurse call system, allowing patients to control both bed functions and lighting through programmable buttons on the nurse call hand unit. At the same time, nurse desk panels provide fast and consistent lighting control for clinical staff.
In selected rooms, DT8 tunable white technology enables dynamic adjustment of colour temperature between 2700 K and 6500 K. This allows lighting to support natural circadian rhythms, helping patients relax, recover, and maintain healthy sleep patterns while ensuring medical staff have appropriate lighting for clinical tasks.
A scalable DALI control architecture
The lighting control infrastructure spans the entire hospital complex. The system includes approximately 80 DALI gateways with two subnets each, nearly 7,000 DALI control gears, 270 PIR sensors, 55 multisensors for motion and daylight detection, and more than 300 push-button panels.
Non-DALI luminaires are integrated using DALI relay modules, ensuring all lighting across the hospital can be controlled through a unified system. An astronomic time clock automatically adjusts lighting schedules based on sunrise and sunset, reducing the need for manual configuration.
Emergency lighting is also managed through the DALI network, enabling automated function testing, battery monitoring, and centralised reporting to improve safety and regulatory compliance.
Hybrid flexibility for complex environments
In selected areas, a hybrid lighting control approach combines wired DALI infrastructure with Helvar NodeLink wireless technology. This provides additional flexibility where cabling would be difficult or disruptive, while maintaining the reliability and consistency of the DALI backbone.
The hybrid architecture allowed installation to proceed efficiently across the hospital’s large and complex footprint while preserving long-term scalability.
Integrated control for a 24/7 hospital
All lighting systems are monitored and controlled through Tridium graphical interfaces that provide a simplified operator dashboard. From a single control environment, facility teams can manage interior lighting, facade lighting, perimeter lighting, and automated lobby curtains.
The result is a cohesive lighting control platform that supports continuous hospital operation while reducing maintenance complexity and operational risk.
Lighting that supports care
By combining human-centric lighting, intelligent control, and a flexible hybrid architecture, Acibadem Kartal Hospital demonstrates how lighting can actively contribute to patient recovery, staff performance, and efficient building operation.
The project shows how thoughtful lighting design can transform healthcare environments, placing comfort, safety, and wellbeing at the centre of the experience.
Images courtesy of Elekon
Key Facts
Completed: April 2025
Helvar Partner: Elekon
Turkey
