Seafront, Southend-on-sea
Following an initial collaboration to provide LED lighting for masts along the Seafront promenade, Architainment has continued to work with the local council to monitor, repair and update the installed lighting and control solutions.
In 2010, lighting designer StudioFractal created a new dynamic lighting strategy for Southend-on-sea. This included a line of custom-designed lighting masts along the Seafront promenade which provide both functional and aesthetic lighting, in a modern reimagining of the historic festoon lighting for which the Seafront is famous.
Taking inspiration from lantern arrays of fishing boat masts upon the shore, these impressive columns stand over 20 metres tall. Their leaning triangular shape is reminiscent of a ship’s sails. Their design also has a functional purpose: helping to contain light spill and direct it away from the beach.
The light masts provide white ambient light to the surrounding areas from a bank of projectors located within the top section of the columns. Each mast is also lined with 1560 low-energy Color Kinetics Flex Compact RGB LED colour changing luminaires, located behind perforated mesh panels. Creating a vibrant visual display that engages visitors and establishes the promenade as a unique seaside destination, these show a range of images, videos and text celebrating annual events.
Architainment worked closely with StudioFractal and Southend-on-Sea Borough council, providing the lights for masts, the control system and programming all the light shows. And we have continued to work with the council, monitoring the system through our ArchiCloud remote monitoring system and updating the light shows. This included extending the Pharos control system to also control the water feature on the Seafront.
ArchiCloud allows the council to control all the lights along the Seafront from a single tablet. In addition, remote monitoring allows any issues to be quickly identified. For example, when some of the original projectors used to light the area failed, the old fixtures were replaced with new Lumascape Q6 Quadralux luminaires. These rugged marine grade fixtures are capable of handling even the worst of the British weather.
We have also upgraded some of the installed control systems to the latest Pharos solutions. This addressed some connectivity issues as well as simplifying control of the overall system. This will enable the council to stay in control of the complete system as it continues to roll out additional phases of its Seafront master plan, such as the light columns in the Victoria Piazza Shopping Centre.
Reflecting on our long working relationship, Stewart Horne, Engineering Compliance Team Leader at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council said, “Having worked with Architainment for several years now, I know that if there is a problem, I can rely on them to get it fixed quickly.”
Client
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Architect
Whitlock and Turkington, Gillespies
Lighting design
StudioFractal