St John’s
Beacon lies at the heart of Liverpool, its elegant form is one of the
most distinctive shapes on the skyline. At the base lies the studios
and offices of local radio station Radio City, an aorta of the community
– hence the need for a truly imaginative architectural lighting scheme
– one in which the people of Liverpool can genuinely participate.
The City Beam fixtures themselves
are surrounded by vandal-proof cages and situated discreetly on various
buildings around the foot of the tower, including St John’s Market
and G. H. Lee’s store. G.H. Lee’s fixture is custom-coloured to match
the building.
Forde chose MSD 1200 Watt
lightsources for the fixtures – one of three bulb options. "They were
the only lights that would make the throw – there’s nothing else with
enough power available" states Forde definitively. The Beacon is now
visible up to three miles away when illuminated.
The City Beam’s focus facilities
also came in handy, with six fixtures shooting up from the base area
of the tower and a smaller circle of four located further up. The
latter have a tighter focus, dovetailing into the tower as it narrows
before reaching its summit.
Obviously data cabling was
totally impractical, so Stagetec supplied an Interactive Technologies
radio DMX system to link the fixtures, with power sourced locally
and fed to each individual unit.
St John’s lighting up times
are approximately 8 p.m. to midnight during the week with a 2 a.m.
extension at the weekends, and the exact times dictated by the seasons
and natural light conditions.
Lighting is initially a slow
cross-fading effect every evening, incorporating 15 different colours.
However Stagetec’s unique control system also offers heaps of additional
versatility.
It’s been designed to work
via a security-code-protected telephone handset, so DJ’s playing out
at Radio City can change colours for special occasions, e.g. pink
for the Love Hour, green for St Patrick’s day, etc. It’s also
intended to use the Beacon lighting for running promotions and charity
events where the public and local businesses can call in and sponsor
colour changes, etc.
In time, the St John’s lighting
controller will also be accessible from outside the building via web-enabled
mobiles, as well as linked to other feature lighting projects happening
around the City, allowing them all to work interactively together
if desired.
Stagetec worked closely with
Lee Forde to produce the very precise control requirements.
The controller itself is located
in the Radio City offices and is a Compulite SP-4D Replay unit – effectively
the electronic section of the full Spark 4D console – packaged as
a 19 inch rack-mounting unit. This is connected to CompuCall, a new
product developed by Compulite’s Dutch distributor Beo which converts
telephone DTMF tones into DMX – also contained neatly in a 1U rack
mounting box.
For programming - undertaken
by Forde and Matt Miles, Stagetec’s project manager for the job -
Stagetec also supplied Liverpool Vision with a Compulite SparkTOP
console. This unique control system is extremely powerful and portable,
combining all the functions of the well established Spark 4D console
into a laptop style case with integral LCD TFT colour screen and complete
with carry case.
This proved a challenging
aspect of the project as the fixture’s colour-changing programmes
are run off macros, activated by button pushes on the phone handset.
For obvious reasons, it was essential that no matter what sequence
of buttons is pressed, the macros will always work!
Compulite has used this opportunity
to build a new ‘Scheduler’ feature into their consoles, enabling the
‘scheduling’ of ‘events’ at any time. This, together with the standard
architectural control software already available, makes the desks
effective for all types of projects.
The opening night launch party
featured a spectacular laser show. This shot beams around and projected
graphics onto the Beacon via a DPSS YAG laser supplied by Laser Studio,
programmed and operated by Steve Wright. The Beacon’s switch-on went
without a hitch, performed by Councillor Mike Storey, leader of Liverpool
City Council, who commented, "It will be a unique and unmissable feature
of the City".
Lee Forde states, "This is
the first interactive feature of its kind in the world. The scale
of support and enthusiasm from those involved in the technical realisation
has been fantastic".
The £85,000 lighting scheme
for the Beacon is funded under the Single Regeneration Budget Round
6 with additional funding from Radio City and Land Securities, owners
of the Beacon.
