Frankie Boyle is a renowned Experiential Creative Director and Artist specialising in immersive and experiential design, with a profound focus on light and colour theory. With over a decade of experience in the event and lighting industries, she is recognised for crafting innovative installations and experiences that guide audiences through transformative emotional journeys.

Frankie’s work revolves around human behaviour and the connection to our primal selves. The brand-new Intra-spectrum installation will be in a prime location at the main entrance and exit between the main exhibition space and the [d]arc thoughts conference. The installation will aim to ignite and resurface memories and emotions as visitors journey through the space.

LiGHT 24 will also be hosting an open Q&A session with Frankie on the 20^th of November at 4.20 PM, where she will delve deeper into the inspiration and design process behind the installation. This will take place in the [d]arc thoughts talks space on the Gallery Level of the event.

This art piece has been uniquely created to give the audience at LiGHT 24 a unique immersive experience. Intra-spectrum has taken inspiration from Frankie’s recent explorations of the narrative of consciousness and subconscious within her body of work through the harmony of reflection and refraction. Frankie said, “I want people to immerse themselves within the light that we shine and the light that we hold within through an array of beautiful invigorating colours. This installation is all about eliciting introspection and connection. For anyone experiencing this installation, I would want them to connect to their inner selves and to have the opportunity to just be present – finding that pause, to stop and stare and immerse.”

Frankie was delighted to have her concept sponsored by formalighting. She adds, “I’m a big believer in collaboration – it makes a project so much richer. I’m looking forward to merging products with design and going hand in hand on the journey for the benefit of everyone – enhancing and enriching the installation and experience.”

Commenting on the collaboration, formalighting’s Sharon Maghnagi, Global Operations Director, says, “formalighting is ecstatic to be supporting the Frankie Boyle art installation at LiGHT 24. As a company we strive towards innovation in our product development with a specific focus on lighting art galleries and museum applications.

“Collaborating with Frankie as a light artist further helps us realise this vision, as it challenges us to research the best possible technical solutions to create the desired lit effect. Frankie’s vision and design approach makes the process and unveiling something that personally the team are excited to be a part of and we really look forward to hearing the feedback of the LiGHT 24 visitors. Congratulations to the team at [d]arc media for adding such an immersive element to this year’s show!”

When asked what she is most looking forward to experiencing at LiGHT 24, Frankie shared that it was “People’s reactions, seeing and hearing how this installation affects them.”

LiGHT 24 takes place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, on 20th and 21st November 2024.

Find out more and register FREE for LiGHT 24 here: www.lightexpo.london

The post Discover the never-before-seen Intra-spectrum Art Installation at LiGHT 24 appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Pharos Architectural Controls has a distinguished history of supporting projects that have pushed boundaries – in terms of scale, complexity and in some cases, sheer audaciousness. As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the controls manufacturer has released a new set of podcast episodes focusing on some of the more wacky, wondrous and other-worldly projects to have exceeded the limits of what was thought possible from a technological perspective, but also in terms of innovation and imagination.

The ‘20 Years of Pharos’ campaign is spotlighting ten lighting professionals and ten projects that have shaped the success of the company over the last two decades.

Seminal lighting professionals Alan McIntosh from Mulvey & Banani Lighting, Inc and Torben Skov Hansen from Chromaviso both feature in this tranche of the campaign, discussing how they have each made their own impacts on the industry – in very different ways.

Boundary-pushing projects featured as part of the campaign include Bridge of Peace in Georgia and the awe-inspiring art installation, Untitled (UFO), which took flight in 2008 – much to the delight of thousands of onlookers in London, Prague, Rio and California. Podcast interviews with Marco de Boer from Primo Exposures and Dominic Harris from Cinimod Studios explore these incredible projects in more detail.

As well as providing rich insights and personal stories, the podcasts will cover how Pharos technology enabled visionaries to realise their briefs and – in many cases – completely exceed them.

Alan McIntosh – Mulvey & Banani Lighting Inc

VP and partner of Mulvey & Banani Lighting Inc, Alan McIntosh, has been with the company for 14 years after spending over a decade working on TV and theatrical lighting touring as a technical director where he gained valuable experience working with dynamic lighting.

“The touring aspect of being a theatrical tech director really encouraged a boundary-pushing mindset, which was a priceless experience and knowledge-gathering time for me. Mulvey & Banani takes on a lot of ambitious urban design projects – many of which are dynamic in nature: a particular passion of mine. We take care of small public art installations to huge-scale wonders of the world, and everything in between.

“Pharos had always been used by the team at Mulvey – they have become one of our standard controls provider, but my first experience of using Pharos control to great effect was on the Bloor Street Benches project in Toronto, which could be described as the Fifth Avenue of Canada. This project was one of the first projects where we worked in direct collaboration with the Pharos team, rather than just specifying them as a contractor would.

“The concept came as a result of an art competition set by the local Business Improvement Association (BIA), to revitalize the urban street scape and make the space more inviting.  Our firm teamed up with landscape architect, DTAH, and came up with the concept of creating stylized public benches that were themed as urban fire pits. These benches lined the corridor and provided a place that was intended to bring people together and provide a sense of warmth and community, on what is a very busy street filled with high end retail, restaurants and constant foot traffic.

“The benches were etched with flames, with lighting integrated inside them that – if the visitor pushed a sensor – would transform from a static look into a flame-flickering, dynamic look. From there, the scene would play for 2-3 minutes and then revert back to its static scene. Each bench had its own independent controller, while the local program to each bench could be overridden, should the need arise to change all the benches at once by the technical operators. The show on each bench had an astronomical calendar that was programmed for ten years, which included programs and scenes, based on what the client wanted, including Father’s Day, Halloween, Easter, etc. All the benches would trigger in uniform illumination.

“The client also decided they wanted to throw in a show every 15 minutes, which switched the fire mode onto all the benches simultaneously., before reverting back. It was ambitious – there were 63 benches eventually installed along Bloor Street and they are still working well, with a couple of tweaks here and there to update in line with the client’s requirements.”

The Bloor Street Benches project is one of the largest deployments of single Pharos controllers, programmed to work individually and as a collective, to achieve the required objective for the client.

Alan continued: “As well as winning the art competition, we have received several accolades for that project and really shows how we want to continue to push boundaries and innovate to create something really special, that we can be really proud of. The production and live event background mentality came to the fore to help us to overcome hiccups and problems that really pushed that project forward and realise its full potential.”

Torben Skov Hansen – Chromaviso

Chromaviso has been specialising in healthcare lighting for the last 18 years and began its working relationship with Pharos in 2012.

Torben explains: “The first years of the business were spent providing a completely novel kind of lighting into operating theatres, so very specialist indeed. The partnership with Pharos came as a result of some work we did with a surgeon who had the idea to combine architectural lighting and room lighting with colour mixing, in order to enhance his visible performance, increase the working environment and thus, his work as a surgeon.

Chromaviso’s founders were well-versed in architainment lighting and acquainted with DMX, and so the innovation in this space was born. To begin with, it was all about controlling lighting in that one room – the operating theatre – and they had their own developed control system for that, which worked well.

“When I joined the company, we expanded the business into multiroom control and larger areas of hospitals – staying in that health and care space. Pharos was the obvious choice for enabling that multiroom control.”

Chromaviso has coined the term ‘light as medicine’ and has continued to innovate in the niche sector of healthcare lighting – both from a patient care standpoint and from an ergonomic perspective, to support the work of the staff working within these environments.

Torben continued: “It’s a unique application in which to use Pharos technology. The benefits and the beauty of this partnership have been proven over and over again. One such example comes to mind when we worked on a Danish psychiatric hospital, which was over 8,000 sqm with 116 patient wards, that had to be completely integrated with circadian rhythm. This meant that some 1,100 six-channel luminaires had to be controlled within that site, which Pharos could easily cover, but the peculiarity was integrating it into the building automation: The user panels, motion sensors, centralised touch-based user interfaces, used both for monitoring, surveillance and multiroom control, was something that we built together on those early projects.

“KMX has emerged as the building automation standard where we are active, so we do that in many cases, particularly on larger projects. This web server – web-based multiroom control and monitoring system that we have developed with Pharos is present across more than 100 hospitals across Scandinavia. These circadian installations have found their way into some further 50-60 installations across elderly care institutions, with the same amount again present in psychiatry, intensive care and neonatal units. In every clinical area active 24/7, our technology will be used and we continue to use the same principles as we did in the beginning.

“In healthcare settings, the lighting design has to work hard to fulfil a multitude of conflicting briefs at the same time, including balancing the benefits for staff in a complex working environment, while aiding the patients around them, who are trying to rest and recover. The evidence and knowledge around light interaction with humans, depending on the health condition they struggle with, has really deepened in recent years, and so our approach has become more advanced in ways that we can support healing and recuperation.

“This is the core value that we provide to the market and Pharos really has been instrumental in enabling us to push those boundaries to innovate in this sector.”

Bridge of Peace, Georgia

Marco de Boar from Primo Exposures codesigned the Bridge of Peace with lighting designer Philippe Martinaud from FOCAL, to complement the overall vision for the structure by architect, Michele De Lucchi. “My dear friend Philippe brought me in on the projects in Georgia, which started with the TV Tower and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2008. These projects were my first encounter with Pharos and that relationship continued with the Presidential Palace project in 2009. In December 2009, we got the first calls for the Bridge of Peace, starting with final design and production in Feb 2010.

“The bridge was constructed in Verona, Italy, then cut into pieces and transported via 200 trucks, into Georgia. It was reconstructed, where the glass and lighting elements were added, before being pontooned over to the other side of the river, where the build and install was completed. It was a true feat of scale and engineering.”

The bridge itself comprises a toughened glass parapet, with 2 x 175m of LEDs (the span of the bridge); 1,250 units inside the roof section of the bridge to illuminate the Meccano. Almost 200 sensors to make the programs follow the pedestrians who walked over it. There are five Pharos LPC 1s (Lighting Playback Controller) and three LPC 2s to help deliver the complex lighting programme on the bridge, supported by 27 Pharos Designer RIOs – most of which service the sensors on the bridge parapet.

Tim Edwards, Operations Director at Pharos, took the lead on the project from the Pharos side of things. He added: “The commissioning for the bridge was done in two phases: The bridge roof, followed a few weeks later, by the walkway. The first phase was near-perfect, which is testament to Marco and the team as that so rarely happens. Phase two was very different with lots more challenges, as the programming for the bridge itself was much more complex. We had problems with earthing, which upset a lot of our gear, but we worked it through to stay on track. The scale of the project was quite something too: to have that many inputs into the system, it is always going to need some ironing out. Deadlines were tight too, so we were under pressure.

“The design of the bridge also incorporated messages of peace, transmitted in light via morse code that travel along the sides of the bridge. This required some completely fresh programming within the Pharos software, which took some support from our team but worked out beautifully.”

Marco continued: “We had the fixtures produced and engineered the complete system, as well as doing all the on-site management. It was a huge project – certainly the biggest I have ever done, but it was a lot of fun. The support we got from the Pharos team brought everything together to really make the design work, in a time when LED projects were pioneering in the industry. A special mention to RENA who made the LED fixtures – the way they prepared the products for quick on-site installation really made a huge difference to us under pressure.”

The Bridge of Peace continues to wow visitors with its simple, beautiful white lighting displays, interactivity and message of peace. Marco concluded: “It’s listed as one of the top five pedestrian bridges in the world. That’s quite a legacy.”

Untitled (UFO)

Cinimod Studios is renowned for using lighting and video to create unique projects so when Dominic Harris received the brief to create a UFO (unidentified flying object) that would fly over the skies of London, Gdansk, Rio de Janeiro and Barstow, CA, he couldn’t refuse.

“I’ve become a world expert on creating UFOs, which is quite a niche area to be working in, but when a company – like Microsoft with its Halo 4 launch – or an artist, finds themselves in need of one, they tend to come to me. They are hard projects to conceive, design and deliver and with a huge amount of challenges to overcome in the execution.

“The whole project initially came about as a collaboration with the US artist, Peter Coffin. It was his vision and he’d wanted to do it for a long time, but he had found it a really difficult project to get ‘off the ground’. He came to Cinimod Studios with the conundrum and we broke it down into its component parts: What does a UFO look like at night? How do you physically construct it and then, how are we going to fly it? But then, if we are going to make this spectacle, we want people to see it, which is where the lighting comes into play.

“The challenge with Untitled (UFO) wasn’t just a feat of getting these huge structures (which were initially 8m, but grew to 15m) off the ground, we needed to build them with the level of lighting that was supported with its own power source. Of course, there was this brain in it, which controlled how the UFO behaved, and that could be controlled remotely from the ground.

“There weren’t many people at that time around who had solid state, robust bits of kit that could drive large amounts of RGB LED pixels individually and could do it in a way that you could pre-visualise testing that out. The Pharos LPC took every bit of shock and vibration and could deliver everything we needed, leaving Peter and I free to design and test out patterns and see everything unfold in flight.”

The lighting on the structure became pivotal and provided the visual spectacle that was enjoyed from the ground, by onlookers in cities across the globe.

“The lighting brief and the aesthetic for Untitled (UFO) changed depending on the country we were flying in” explained Dominic. “Flight control rights meant that in some areas, we could fly the helicopter with all its lights off, as the UFO itself was considered bright enough to mark its location in the sky. This made the view of the piece even more striking in the night sky. In Barstow, California, the flight path took a route over the mountains and then over the Skyline Drive-In open air cinema, where the band Beck was performing and the UFO would form part of their set. The helicopter was able to fly with its lights off and the light emanating from the UFO enabled the pilot to light the way safely through the mountain valley.”

The governing safety we followed meant that there could be nothing between the helicopter and the UFO, other than the strop line itself, which required the UFO to be a completely self-contained unit, with regards to power and data. The peculiarities of a project like this came with several technical challenges, but having the support of the Pharos team on hand to help – day and night – ensured that the UFO would take flight on time and in all its glory.

Dominic said: “The business we are in is that everything has to be perfect on the night, so having that back-up and support was vital; in those moments where we needed it, it was priceless.”

Simon Hicks, CEO of Pharos Architectural Controls, joined Dominic on the podcast and recalls being a part of the support team for the UFO project. “There weren’t many solutions that could control that many fixtures in a solid-state form and, at that time, there weren’t even many Pharos units manufactured – the UFO was one of the first projects to use the LPC X, which we were still building to order in our small office in Shepherd’s Bush. Had there been a problem – as well there might with a new product entering such unfamiliar territory as a UFO – the only backup unit was the one we had in the office to replicate Dominic’s setup and provide technical support. It was an exhilarating project to be part of!”

Dominic added: “I would hazard a guess that there aren’t many Pharos controllers that have flown over three continents of the globe, like the one fitted to the UFO. A special accolade indeed.”

The full interviews can be viewed here:

Alan: https://youtu.be/KrW754LzXRs?si=IK0OPp_QieLzWUDM  

Torben: https://youtu.be/ws2dhrWcJ-g?si=5JBIwBK8VUaE63ex  

Bridge of Peace: https://youtu.be/sRTGEHHdPY4?si=mscoj9y44Wa_nlsJ  

Untitled (UFO): https://youtu.be/yfMdPLir1NQ?si=PasPUYxUUevOPFcb 

The next installment of the ‘20 years of Pharos’ podcast series, focusing on Scalability, is due to be released in November.

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This new partnership will allow LITE’s clients to access liniLED®’s high-quality LED lighting technologies, which encompass both interior and exterior solutions. A wide variety of specifications are available, including a full range of White CCTs, RGBW and Tuneable white.

LITE’s Managing Director Steve Hainsworth said: “It has been an exciting year for LITE so far with new collaborations and high levels of growth. This latest partnership with liniLED® is further expanding our ability to ensure LITE clients can access everything they need for a successful lighting project.

“As part of the Triolight brand, clients can be assured that liniLED® will offer high-quality, professional and reliable solutions. We know this will be a significant benefit for LITE clients and we are delighted to showcase some of the liniLED® range at our upcoming calendar of events.”

The liniLED® solutions are part of the Triolight brand; a Dutch specialist in linear LED lighting, aimed at delivering professional applications in a seamless and straightforward way.

LITE will be using several upcoming shows as an opportunity to further present the collaboration with liniLED®. These include Futurescape and LiGHT 24.

Lawrence Hayes, UK Specification Manager for LITE says: “Our partnership with liniLED® allows us to extend our portfolio with cutting-edge, unique and durable solutions that address both functional and aesthetic requirements across a diverse project range. We are confident that this collaboration will help Lite offer tailored lighting systems that push the boundaries of innovation and assist specifiers in achieving/ exceeding their project requirements. We look forward to showcasing the LiniLED® range at our upcoming trade shows and in person with our clients.”

Bob van Tiel, Triolight’s National International Sales Manager stated: “We are excited to partner with LITE, as they have a strong reputation for delivering exceptional lighting solutions to their clients. Through this collaboration, we aim to make high-performance, long-lasting LED products more accessible to clients looking for reliability and precision in their projects.”

Visitors to the LITE stands at these exhibitions will be able to explore a selection of liniLED® solutions. These will include the IP69k 50m submersible LED Strips, Illuminated handrail systems, the brand new R Line strips and The Forta inground system.

The post LITE broadens expert portfolio with the addition of liniLED® appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

On Thursday, 12th September 2024, Thorn and Zumtobel hosted a special event at the Serpentine Pavilion, inviting a select group of architects, lighting designers, interior designers, consulting engineers, and end users to experience the space first-hand. The evening offered a unique opportunity to engage with the Pavilion’s architect, Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies, who shared his insights on the design and explored the role lighting played in the finished effect.

The evening’s agenda included speeches from key figures:

• Welcome by Paul Kilburn, Managing Director UK & Ireland at Thorn and Zumtobel Lighting, and Alfred Felder, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO at Zumtobel Group
• Lighting Designer: Arianna Foltran of Aecom
• Pavilion Curator: Alexa Chow
• Main Headline Speaker: Minsuk Cho, Architect of the 2024 Serpentine Pavilion

At the event, Paul Kilburn expressed, “We are honoured to have been involved in such an extraordinary project for the fifth time. Working alongside Minsuk Cho and Mass Studies, Aecom, and the Serpentine Pavilion team has been a true privilege, and we are proud to see our lighting solutions play a role in enhancing this year’s Pavilion.”

The event, attended by 300 guests, was a celebration of the successful synergy between architecture and lighting. The tailored lighting solutions provided by Thorn played a crucial role in enhancing the Pavilion’s design, creating a seamless balance between functionality and artistic expression.

As the sun set over Kensington Gardens, the Pavilion was transformed into a visually striking landmark. The innovative lighting solutions from Thorn, including Caelon, Mystrid Flex, and Axyl Greet Bollards, illuminated the Pavilion, creating a captivating interplay of light and shadow. The lighting not only complemented the architectural forms but also guided visitors through the structure, highlighting key design features and creating a memorable visual experience.

In addition, Zumtobel Group’s charity partner, Cancer Research UK, were in attendance to support their ongoing efforts into cancer research, adding a charitable dimension to the evening.

Karin Zumtobel, Chairperson of the Board Zumtobel Group AG, commented, “The event was a brilliant convergence of architecture and light, and it was a privilege to collaborate with such visionary partners. Our lighting solutions have truly brought Minsuk Cho’s design to life, particularly as the Pavilion transforms after dusk.”

Thorn and Zumtobel are thrilled to continue their long-standing relationship with the Serpentine Pavilion and look forward to future collaborations that push the boundaries of architecture, design, and lighting.

The post Thorn and Zumtobel celebrate architectural innovation with Minsuk Cho at Serpentine Pavilion 2024 appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Applications for Mentees are open from September 16th until 1st December 2024. The 20 successful Mentees will be individually supported by one of the programme’s Mentors for a six-month mentorship journey. With the support of the Silhouette Awards’ very impressive and extensive community made from an array of sponsors and supporters, the winners will be granted the opportunity to enhance their skill set, pursue their career ambitions and add real value to the creativity of the industry, raising the bar for talent around the world.

Entries can be submitted by designers with eight years of experience or under, within the architectural lighting industry, who believe their talent should be recognised and who wish to benefit from a bespoke mentorship programme led by an expert panel of judges.

Applicants should follow the following process to enter:

• Complete the online application form
• Upload a 3min (max) video recording file

More information about how to enter can be found here: https://silhouetteawards.com/how-to-enter/

The Silhouette Awards Mentors are made up of 20 senior influential lighting designers from around the world, who aim to nurture young talent and help other like-minded individuals benefit from their own personal knowledge and experiences.

This year’s remarkable line-up of Mentors from across the globe are:

• Andrew Powell – Lighting Design Alliance (LDA)
• Armaghan Ahmadi Venhari – Light-Life-Academy
• Camila Blanco –  Glare
• Cherine Saroufim – Atelier Saroufim
• Daniel Blaker – Nulty
• Eugenia Cheng – LightOrigin Studio
• Fabiana Nery Pardhanani – Glare UK
• Lee Barker-Field – AECOM
• Magdalena Gomez – So It Is Design Studio
• Maneck Tandon – ATPL Lighting
• Marc Juarez – UPC Barcelona
• Myriam Patricia Lopez Yanez
• Philip Hammond – BHA Lighting Design & Consulting
• Ratna Kumari – CD+M Lighting Design
• Sacha Abizadeh – WSP UK
• Sergio Boccia – Sergio Boccia Lighting Design
• Shahrzad Abtahi – Borealis Lighting Studio
• Tim Hunt – Arup
• Ximena Munoz Abogabir – LUXIA
• Vinod Pillai – Studio Lumen

You can discover more about the 24-25 Mentors here: https://silhouetteawards.com/mentors-24-25/

Katia Kolovea, Co-Founder of the Silhouette Awards, said: “We are so excited to announce our outstanding line-up of Mentors for season 4 of the awards. By announcing a new year of the programme, we are able to create more meaningful relationships and offer 20 more designers an opportunity to learn from a mentor’s knowledge and experience to benefit them in their careers. We are so grateful to be able to continue this success for another season, offering more experiences to all of our winning Mentees for 24-25. We can’t wait to see the incredible talent representing the industry this year and encourage Mentees to get their entries in as soon as possible!”

Eve Gaut, Co-Founder of the Silhouette Awards, added: “We are overjoyed to be back with a new season of The Silhouette Awards! Over the last three years we have seen countless successful journeys and development between our Mentor and Mentee pairings, and it has been a rewarding experience for everyone involved. We encourage all interested Mentees to apply for an experience that is much more than an award and will make a huge difference to their future career and opportunities.”

If you are a leading brand who is keen to spotlight your company while supporting the future talent of the lighting industry, there are a variety of sponsorship opportunities available for this year’s programme.

The Core Sponsor for Season 4 is ADO Lights.

Light Sponsors include LUG Light Factory, Signify and Vivalyte

A1 Lighting Magazine are proud supporters of the Silhouette Awards which is a collaboration between Archifos and Parrot PR and Marketing.

The post Open call for Global Mentee Applications for Season 4 of the Silhouette Awards appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Established in Italy in 1975, and now located in Aarhus, Denmark, SGM is a well-respected lighting manufacturer pioneering the use of IP65 moving lights before, more recently, focusing on architectural lighting. Both these aspects create strong synergies with Goldensea which is investing heavily in both entertainment and architectural IP65 solid state lighting products.

As a globally renowned brand, SGM has always focused on technological innovation, being the first in the industry to launch all-weather waterproof moving head fixtures. It has extremely experienced R&D, creative, operations and sales teams alongside mature sales channels and partners.

SGM’s unique patented technology covers both the architectural and stage lighting portfolios, and its products are well-known in the industry for low maintenance costs, unique design, and consistent performance. SGM’s products are widely used in many projects worldwide, including Louis Vuitton’s Headquarters in Paris, Le Stade de France also in Paris, The Three Sister Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, Singapore’s Sky Tree Lighting as well as on Adele’s recent record- breaking shows in Munich and Metallica’s European tour.

Recognising the qualities and potential within SGM, Goldensea identified complementary aims and philosophies between the two companies, and the benefits its financial investment can bring to SGM’s product development and growth. “Our investment in SGM aligns with Goldensea’s future strategic and long-term development plans,” says Christopher Agius Ferrante, VP Goldensea. “The purchase of SGM is highly complementary to our existing business, and will help to enrich and strengthen the product range and expertise that we can offer all our clients – for both architectural and stage lighting equipment.”

Goldensea states that all SGM Denmark staff will remain in place. “We strongly value the whole SGM team and are excited to have them on board as we seek to invest and grow in our determination to make SGM sustainably successful,” continues Christopher.

From an operational perspective SGM Lighting has begun the process of reviewing the order book which was existing as of the 1st of September and will be contacting all customers to discuss these orders, advise of new lead times (should there be any) and deliver other pertinent information. Due to the necessary change in legal entity, all customers are advised that new orders will need to be placed in lieu of the existing orders for them to remain valid. We apologise for this inconvenience.

In the coming days, SGM will also be able to accept new orders for all current SGM products.

SGM also announces that all existing warranties which were valid under the old entity are to be honoured going forward.

The post Goldensea acquires SGM appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Chris chose to work with Robe ESPRITE moving lights and one of the new Robe iBOLTS, which were applied with great effect together with projection mapping of the South African flag onto the building.

Cyril Ramaphosa was inaugurated as South African president and leader of a national unity government made up of representatives from four major parties – the ANC (African National Congress), the DA (Democratic Alliance), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

The final inauguration events are organised on a tight timescale once the actual election results are confirmed and certified – Chris received the call a week beforehand and was asked to present a scheme for illuminating the Union Buildings, a notoriously difficult structure to light effectively due to is extremely long – 285 metre – façade.

Designed by Sir Herbert Baker in 1908 in English ‘monumental’ style, construction from light sandstone materials began the next year and was completed in 1913. The buildings are semi-circular in shape with two side wings representing the union of formally divided people.

This was the first time that Chris had lit the Buildings. Initially, the client had the idea of projecting the South African flag onto the four end-walls, however after a site visit, Chris proposed lighting the two inner end walls with the projected flags, and lighting along the whole facade of the near side wings for better effect and to also to maximise their budget.

The client agreed and Chris then specified six Robe ESPRITES a side for the façade illuminations, and two 40K projectors for the flags onto the two end-walls.

From a conversation with Duncan Riley from Robe’s South African distributor DWR Distribution, Chris learned that the iBOLT had recently arrived in the country! They both thought it would also be a brilliant ‘inauguration event’ for this powerful super-bright laser-lightsource searchlight style fixtures in SA, and that an iBOLT would complete and complement the other elements of the installation perfectly.

DWR’s Duncan and Bruce Riley rocked up on site with the fixtures and set it up and programmed the iBOLT using a small console so it blasted up into the night sky and cycled through a number of colourful and spectacular effects.

“It’s a completely awesome fixture and created some beautiful effects,” commented Chris, adding that it juxtaposed seamlessly with the lit building.

The ESPRITES were rigged on truss tower sections on the other side of a road that passes directly in front – with a 9-metre drop – of the buildings, along the edge of the large park/amphitheatre that stretches away in front of the seat of government. They were positioned to avoid greenery, and the shutters used extensively to produce crisp delineating lines between the different bold flag colours.

ESPRITES are one of Chris’s go-to fixtures for multiple shows and corporate events, so he knows them well, but even he was surprised at how well they worked in this architectural context.

The central curved building and its two distinctive turrets, illuminated by a permanent lighting installation already in place for some years, provided depth, contrast and a negative space that coincidentally referenced the black parts of the South African flag.

The installation ran for three nights from dusk to dawn, bringing the Buildings to life, and was enjoyed and appreciated by the press and the public either side of the actual inauguration ceremony, which took place at midday on 19^th June on the South Lawns of the Union Buildings.

Photo: Chris Duys.

The post Robe iBOLT makes an impression at Inauguration appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

The Vienna Philharmonic invited audiences to the open-air Sommernachtskonzert (Summer Night Concert) for the 20th time this year – and a massive 50,000 spectators didn’t need to be asked twice. In addition, the free concert – one of Austria’s largest classical music events, set against the backdrop of the impressive Schönbrunn Palace – was set for broadcast in over 80 countries.

The Sommernachtskonzert has become an established tradition and for many Viennese it is impossible to imagine life without it. Lighting designer Jerry Appelt has emphasised in the past how much this concert means to him. Therefore, he and his team continue their work – and at the same time have created new highlights in the production, thanks to the help of some new GLP devices.

The GLP impression S350 Wash has been used for orchestra lighting for several years; this year 76 of the fixtures were deployed. The devices “impress with the lighting quality required by production for TV applications,” explains Appelt. “In addition, the light weight of these spots is an advantage, given the limited load-bearing capacity of the stage roof. That’s why they are an integral part of the lighting design at the Summer Night Concert.”

GLP’s impression X5 LED washlights have also been used for orchestra lighting for the past two years. As with all spotlights in the stage roof, the comparatively low weight also plays a role here. Sixty-one impression X5 Wash were part of this year’s lighting design.
However, 54 of the new, weatherproof GLP impression X5 IP Maxx were used for the first time, providing column lighting on the magnificent façade of Schönbrunn Palace. The impression X5 IP Maxx represents the much-praised colour quality of the X5 Series with an even higher output. The lighting designer favoured the new model in this application primarily for the “brilliant colours and the IP65 protection, which made it possible to forego additional rain protection in front of the historic facade”, he explains.

With 12 FUSION Creos, a completely new model also made its debut at the Summer Night Concert. The tiltable LED washlight with 18 40W RGBL LEDs, arranged in three lines, functions both as a single device and in combination with several other fixtures to create an overpowering LED bar. During the Summer Night Concert, all 12 devices were used on the Gloriette, which is around a kilometre from the palace, and is often seen by the TV cameras.

“The Creos impressed us both as architectural lighting and as single camera lighters,” says Appelt.

For the first time, the designer also used 52 of the ultra-compact and weatherproof (IP65) FUSION X-PAR 8Z LED PARs with zoom from FUSION by GLP to illuminate various statues in the extensive palace park. “The statues in the park were presented as decentralised highlights, concealing the necessary lighting technology in the foreground. The X-PAR 8Z can be used extremely effectively as small, inconspicuous uplights,” he explains. “They also have a very good zoom range for such a compact device in this performance class.”

Jerry Appelt’s design team additionally used eight GLP ArenaLED1 Touring for the ambient lighting at the Gloriette, which “were somewhat misused in this role, as they are actually arena floodlights, but nevertheless did a good job and were also very acceptable outdoor floodlights. We’re looking forward to actually using the fixtures in an arena context,” says the designer.

When a torrential thunderstorm began on the day of the dress rehearsal, the IP-certified fixtures from GLP demonstrated their reliability even under the presence of such heavy rain.

Finally, Jerry Appelt thanks the organisers of the event, as well as the Philharmonic Orchestra: “My team and I always look forward to the Summer Night Concert. This is not only due to the wonderful music in the unique open-air atmosphere, but especially to the constructive collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic. In particular we thank Johannes Schneider, as our contact person, as well as the organisers, Anneliese Pontiller and Zigo Mutschlechner, who help make the Summer Night Concert a local highlight as well as a cultural export hit.” Appelt also thanks the ORF (the Austrian Broadcast Corporation), and particularly Roberto Berkembrock, for the close cooperation.

Photo credit: Jack Langer.

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Pharos has been working with Lutron to provide integration of Pharos Designer systems with Lutron commercial systems, using Pharos flexible IO modules. The Pharos systems now support integration with Athena; Lutron’s flagship control offering for commercial installations.

The Designer range from Pharos Architectural Controls boasts a wide selection of controllers – including the original and award-winning LPC (Lighting Playback Controller) – to suit any DMX, eDMX and DALI lighting project. 

Integration is now also possible with Lutron Vive and solutions from the Pharos Designer range. Vive is a wireless commercial lighting control system, helping new and existing commercial buildings to be more efficient, comfortable and productive.

To deliver the highest levels of protection, the Athena and Vive integrations are fully secured using Lutron’s LEAP API integration protocol.  

The collaboration will be formalised with the addition of Lutron as a ‘Friend of Pharos’ on the Pharos website. This considered network of manufacturers share the Pharos ethos of putting customers first. Through this approved list, Pharos is able to ensure any integration project will mean customers get the best of two leading companies, without the risk of being sidelined and manufacturers not taking responsibility. 

Bas Hoksbergen, Commercial Director at Pharos Architectural Controls, said: “I am very happy to see the Pharos Designer and Lutron Athena integration now available for all our users. Combining Lutron and Pharos systems gives our users unprecedented control flexibility over both functional lighting, as well as dynamic lighting control.”

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As lighting controls specialist Pharos Architectural Controls celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year, the manufacturer has launched a podcast series to spotlight some of the people and projects that have helped to define the company and play a part in its success. In this first release, we focus on the Innovators.

Iain Ruxton from Spiers Major Light Architecture (SMLA), Maria Jenkins from Experience Lighting and Nic Tolkien from Architainment recorded podcast interviews with Pharos, discussing how the world of lighting has changed over the past two decades and the shifting sands that have shaped both their companies and their careers.

Ryan Sainsbury – UK and Northern Europe Regional Sales Manager for Pharos, led the series of conversations, which also included a sit-down chat with Sara Viele from Merlin Entertainment Group to discuss how Pharos products have enabled the transformation of the iconic London Eye from a static landmark to a living embodiment of celebrations, commemorations and of course, New Year’s Eve.

Nic Tolkien – Architainment

The fusion of architecture and entertainment has spurred a huge shift in the lighting industry and with Nic’s background in entertainment – having spent 20 years in the business before forming Architainment in 2003 – it makes sense that he would be one of the innovators in this blend of approaches and applications.

In his podcast episode, Nic explains how architectural lighting was significantly impacted by the creation of colour changing LED luminaires by Color Kinetics and others, and how this opened the floodgates for DMX-based systems that enable colour, transition and more entertainment-based scenes.

Nic explained how it felt to witness this technological shift first hand. “We’d go and see an architectural lighting designer and explain that these single fixtures – with the use of a controller – could change colour. Within a few minutes, we’d have 20 lighting designers from the practice around the table, pointing the fixture at the wall and imagining what they could do with this new gear.

“Now they had a product that could enable creativity and of course, the more creative they got, the more comprehensive the controllers needed to be.”

Nic commented that many lighting designers hailed from theatrical backgrounds and as the revolution of RGB LEDs began to take hold, he could sense an explosion of creativity as designers were empowered to create scenes that moved away from traditional white and really indulged in colourful light.

“The ability to change colour and add a theatrical element when it was available for these designers to specify caused a lot of interest and excitement, although perhaps not all clients were happy to herald in colour and do away with white, which is why the ability to amend scenes from white to colour became so pertinent.

“From Red Nose Day to the birth of a Royal baby, colour has revolutionised the way buildings are used and viewed over the past 12-18 years.”

And so, does Nic have a favourite building that uses these colour-changing technologies to best effect? “The London Eye is one that we were very excited to work on. In terms of a landmark and the statements it makes, it’s fantastic.”

The London Eye

Pharos Architectural Controls play a key role in the lighting capabilities of the London Eye, which is known for its iconic and timely attention-grabbing scenes.

Sara Viele, AV Specialist for Merlin Entertainment Group, explained in her podcast episode, just how integral Pharos kit is: “Several Designer LPCs (Lighting Playback Controllers) are mounted onto the rim of the wheel, with three others across the building. We also use a Designer TPC (Touch Panel Controller) and have recently implemented Pharos Cloud for our marketing and PR, which is an easy interface for use in live activations. It’s a big distributed system but when you plug into the network, you see all of the controllers appear on Pharos Designer.

The interconnectivity of Pharos systems on the London Eye enables a multitude of nuanced uses that has provided Merlin with the opportunity to utilise the Eye as a marketing tool. Sara said: “The colour matching of the system is reliable and means that we can design creative lighting schemes and pre-programme the system to complement a huge range of events – like New Years Eve, film premiers, England football matches and Eurovision.

“The flexibility of the system is great and allows me to create my own lights that may not even be on the system yet, which means the possibilities are endless, and that is always exciting.”

Iain Ruxton – SMLA

Recalling his first contact with Pharos, Iain Ruxton also noted the ‘world of white’ of lighting that he was experiencing as an architectural lighting designer in the early 2000s. “I remember being introduced to the controls at the Business Design Centre and knowing immediately that this kit would solve problems for me. We were doing more colour-change work that we needed to be more kinetic and so required DMX systems, but many of them were very limited in function, or were full-on entertainment systems that required a live operator.

“Fit-and-forget systems were few and far between and as well as being limited, they were clunky. Pharos brought to market a show-based DMX system that could do a whole lot more and was easy to interface with architectural systems. I’ve been using Pharos ever since, specifying hardware that’s scalable, to keep up with client demands.

“The LED revolution changed the game in this industry and there has been a great deal of interest from clients in coloured light and kinetic light. One of the big things that has pushed the scale is undoubtedly the use of pixels. The channel counts and universe counts are through the roof now, which was completely unfathomable a few years ago.”

Iain provided an example in the form of an art installation at Broadgate, near Liverpool Street Station in London: “The installation itself is a 5m circle with a fairly coarse pixel pitch behind a diffused Barrisol fabric.  The content is generated by a PC with custom software by an artist. I used a Pharos Designer VLC to take their output as video signal, lay it onto the grid and pump out the artwork to the pixels. The Pharos kit does the show control, turning on and off, and giving options for local override and to change to fixed colours when required, for example to support a charity or celebrate a particular event.

“It is fantastic and all works really well together, but even that relatively small grid is made up of 42 universes. Projects like this have pushed on the needs from the controllers and Pharos has always come up to meet – and exceed – these requirements.”

Continuing the theme of scalability, Iain goes on to discuss a live project that is currently utilising Pharos Controls: “This is a real one off – not only because we are the lead designer on what is a massive lighting-only project rather than working with an architect or other designer – but also because of its cultural and historical significance.

“At-Turaif is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, considered to be the birthplace of the modern state of Saudi Arabia on the outskirts of Riyadh. Technically, it’s interesting on a number of levels. Due to the sheer size of the site, the system has been designed with multiple Designer LPC-X controllers – we didn’t know how good the local network was going to be or what order lights were going to be installed and commissioned in. Building in that resilience has definitely saved us during an incremental installation and switch-on. We currently have 35,000 channels patched and none of that is pixel. We are talking about individual lights, so it’s a huge scheme.

“Getting the lights patched correctly and working out the dynamic effects has been very challenging and required precise organisation and liaison with the luminaire supplier and installers. I can’t think of another system we could have used to get to where we needed to be in a manageable time frame.”

Iain also noted another key part of the project that presented both the SMLA and Pharos Support teams with a need to learn some new skills:

“Another objective was to script the lighting in line with lunar phases. This is where Pharos really comes into its own. I’ve done a lot of scripting with Pharos previously, but this project required both Ryan Sainsbury and I to learn a bit about astronomy to figure out how to work out whether a given night was the nearest period of darkness to the moment of full-moon. It’s more complicated than it sounds and was a steep learning curve for both of us!

“It was a great example – not only of how of how we can write bespoke coding, which can be exactly tailored to the needs of the project – but also of the collaborative approach and level of support that we as customers receive from Pharos. We can literally access Pharos support at any time of day, from anywhere in the world and that is priceless, when you’re working on site and under pressure. The show-must-go-on mentality really is a gamechanger and sets the Pharos team apart.”

Maria Jenkins – Experience Lighting

Maria’s career in lighting began at university, where she used lighting design in entertainment as a creative outlet while she studied maths and statistics. Following a stint with an installation company, she joined Light Factor in London, where she met Nick Archdale and Chris Hunt of Flying Pig, who went on to establish Pharos. “Our paths crossed several times and after I set up as a freelance consultant, clients needed a control solution that moved with the times, so I was in regular contact with Pharos.”

Maria’s technical expertise, not only with programming, but also with distributing Pharos products has opened many doors for Pharos gear to be integrated into projects – particularly those with an entertainment background.

“The first project where I used Pharos was at Madame Tussauds on Baker Street in London and their kit really fitted the requirements of the project; an attraction that had to run in a specific way, having a complex set of outputs that needed to be achieved. It was prime for a DMX-driven system and with a tight turnaround prior to opening, Pharos was able to step up and meet the brief.

“Pharos has come out of the entertainment industry and the guys have that show-must-go-on mentality, but crucially, they also have a foot in the architectural camp, with the flexibility to integrate with more straightforward DALI-controlled systems; AV smart home and building management systems, as well as the more complex entertainment/colour change requirements. As a programmer and a distributor, this has constantly helped to make my life easier.”

Maria is one of the main distributors for Pharos in the UK, as well as being an experienced programmer. “Many of my clients are in the themed entertainment and attractions space and want to use Pharos for the same reasons I do. It’s quite easy to relay that enthusiasm for the kit. I am still on site, programming, which helps to keep my knowledge fresh and helps customers to see that I trust the product that I am selling to them.”

Maria went on to explain how she integrated Pharos into a recent project at the Printworks in Manchester. “The project started five years ago and the original specification was much more simple and looked very different to how it does now; an immersive colour-change system, integrated with content, over 90 clips that integrate with the lighting. The Designer LPC 4 also runs the facade individually, which is controlled by Pharos Cloud, allowing the client to amend the frontage as needed.”

Ryan Sainsbury from Pharos said: “We always rely on professionals like those spotlighted in this article to feed into our control systems and keep us connected with market requirements. Pharos has continued to grow and innovate in collaboration with companies like Architainment, Experience Lighting and Spiers Major Light Architecture.

“Highlighting some of the people and projects that we admire has been a real privilege and I’m excited for the next instalment of this campaign to celebrate 20 years of Pharos in 2024.”

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