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A.C. Lighting Supply Lighting System for Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower
The Spinnaker Tower is a new national icon based on the south coast. Soaring 170m above Portsmouth Harbour, it is the UK’s tallest publicly accessible building outside London and offers visitors a unique ‘window on the sea’ from its three 100m, 105m and 110m observation decks. It is tall, elegant and sculptural in design with two large white sweeping arcs that give the tower its distinctive spinnaker sail design.
The tower is a UK Millennium Commission sponsored project in conjunction with Portsmouth City Council, which aims to transform the waterfront at Portsmouth and Gosport. Forming the focal point of the Portsmouth Harbour Renaissance Project, the tower is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the area every year and will provide a shining beacon of light to vessels destined for the harbour.
As the main contractor for the design/build construction, Mowlem plc engaged Mark Hensman of Equation Lighting to create the tower’s unique exterior lighting design which features two distinct elements. First is the white light projected onto the rear concrete legs and the lower shaft below the cruciform to the front, and second the dynamic coloured light projected within the arcs and to the front of the main spire.
Following a competitive tender, A.C.’s Special Projects Division were awarded the contract to supply, terminate and commission all exterior colour changing architectural lighting fixtures that had been specified by Equation as part of their design. The company assisted the electrical contractor, Mowlem Engineering, in specifying the show lighting and architectural control systems, then supplied, programmed and commissioned the two systems.
The external show lighting system consists of an Artistic License Commonsense processor receiving and responding to wind speed, tidal and time information and an ETC Expression lighting playback controller (LPC) distributing control via a ‘Towerwide’ DMX system, to re-create the six show designs.
The show lighting system is operated using two Unison CMEi processors connected to Smart Pack dimmers, which provide the user interface via switch stations on each viewing deck for controlling the show sequence for all internal and external fixtures. These switch stations also control the interior architectural fittings at each level. A master Unison LCD control station allows the whole tower to be operated from the Central Control Room.
WYSIWYG was used to pre-programme the system’s response to the various inputs of wind, time, and tide. WYSIWYG is also used to monitor and display the control system’s current output, allowing an operator to see the lighting state that is being sent to the external show lights represented as a ‘real time’ 3D model simulation of the tower on a flat panel monitor.
28 Martin Exterior 600 washlights were installed at various positions around the tower to uplight the front and top of the Spire. A further 22 Martin Exterior 200 short throw washlights provide side fill illumination of the arc inner ribs and three viewing decks. 12 Pulsar ChromaStrip LED fixtures have also been installed inside the viewing deck rooms to provide a low level representation of the exterior show lighting. Fixtures were also installed to provide the white light projected on to the rear concrete legs and lower shaft.
3rd October 2005
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