BARCLAYCARD ARENA

BIRMINGHAM

After an 18 month, £26 million redevelopment, the Barclaycard Arena – formerly the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, re-opened in December 2014 with state of the art facilities, increased capacity and new retail spaces.

One of the most striking features of the refurbished venue is a brand new glass façade overlooking the Brindleyplace canal side development, which includes an LED Wonder Wall, distinctive copper fins, iconic Sky Needles and a boardwalk that provides a home for quality retail units – creating a dynamic scene on arrival for visitors and a focal point in the centre of Birmingham.

Architainment Lighting were brought in to realise Broadway Malyan’s Wonder Wall idea – a dynamic LED display that would be visible from near and far, whilst meeting the requirements of the showpiece façade.

Jonathan Adkins – Technical Services Manager from Architainment Lighting comments ”It was critically important for such a prestige venue to have the best display and control solution, so four Philips sPDS-480 units and two Pharos LPC4 advanced lighting controllers were chosen to manage the display. “

The Wonder Wall is an impressive 51.5m long, 10m high and uses nine hundred and sixty (960) nodes of Philips Color Kinetics iColor Flex LMX gen 2, enabling the Barclaycard Arena to display dynamic text and images in colour.

As a Philips Certified Value Added Partner (CVAP), Architainment Lighting were able to create custom 30 node lengths of iColor Flex for the Wonder Wall, which were all fully tested prior to going to site for installation by the electrical contractor.

iColor Flex LMX gen2 from Philips Color Kinetics are flexible strands of large, high-intensity (11 candela), full-color LED nodes designed for extraordinary effects and expansive installations without the constraints of fixture size, shape, or space. The flexible form factor accommodates two- and three-dimensional configurations, while high light output affords superior long-distance viewing for architectural accent and perimeter lighting, large-scale signage, and building-covering video displays.

Phil Mead, Managing Director of the NEC Group Arena’s, says. “The Wonder Wall really adds to the sense of arrival for customers visiting the Barclaycard Arena. The dynamic text and images generates a wow factor and allows us to personalise the welcome to the event that is taking place inside.”

PROJECT CREDITS

COMPLETION DATE > December 2014

CLIENT > Barclaycard Arena

PROJECT LEAD > Broadway Malyan

LIGHTING DESIGNER > Broadway Malyan

OTHER COMPANIES INVOLVED > Royal BAM Group, EIC Ltd

PHOTOGRAPHY > NEC Group