61 Oxford Street is a landmark development designed by AHMM Architects for Dukelease Properties and British Airways Pension Fund.
Sited at the corner of Oxford Street and Soho Street, it provides more than 3000m2 of prime retail space for Zara at the lower levels, two levels of grade A offices, and six high quality residential units.
The building is notable for its distinctive curved glass facades, which reference the bay window shop fronts that were popular in London in the late 19th century.
Between levels five and seven, the glazing tapers to form a bespoke lantern feature, and provides a modern successor to the masonry tower of the original structure.
StudioFractal were commissioned to create a lighting solution for the lantern that would add a sophisticated night time presence, and specified the Philips Color Kinetics iColor Flex MX gen2 solution.
iColor Flex MX gen2 are flexible strands of large, high intensity, full colour LED nodes designed for extraordinary effects and expansive installations without the constraints of fixture size, shape or space.
Architainment prepared 45 custom lengths of strands ranging from 26 nodes to 71 nodes, and these were installed onto a frame that was specially designed to fit around the curvature of the glass.
Management of the strands is provided by a Pharos LPC20, and working from StudioFractal’s design drawings, Architainment’s Technical Services team mapped more than 2700 RGB nodes of control. This was a complex process since the nodes wrap round the lantern and create a three dimensional effect.
A number of lighting sequences based upon nature and the seasons have been created, and these run automatically throughout the year.
Architainment programmed all timelines and triggers on the Pharos LPC 20, and worked alongside the lighting design team to commission the final solution into operation.
Lighting scenes for the lantern have been programmed to display automatically, and a button station in reception provides manual control if required.
