The Lighthouse, Westgate Retail Park, Gloucester
Client:
Sterling House Estates
Year of Completion:
2006
Architect/Designer: Roberts Gardner Main Contractor/Customer: E G Carter
Architect/Designer: Roberts Gardner Main Contractor/Customer: E G Carter
As part of the development of the 215 year old site, which once housed the 16th century St Bartholomew’s hospital, as well as a later almshouse of the same name, Westgate Retail Park’s ‘phase 2’ development entails a landmark structure dubbed the ‘Lighthouse’.
The ‘Lighthouse’ is an atrium that caps the main building, and is so-named because at night its LED light feature transmits an array of dazzling colours into the night sky. During the day the 7m tall, 6m wide fabric cone serves to filter and reflect natural light through the atrium and into the shopping centre.
Within the perimeter of the atrium, sixteen lengths of colour-changing LEDs are fitted. These are controlled by a single LPC1 Pharos DMX controller, which runs a pre-set system of light changes each day and night.
The ‘Lighthouse’ feature is a demanding test of the capabilities of lighting control. Every 24 hours, a new programme commences, meaning that every day brings a new combination of lighting effects and colours. Between the hours of ten and four, staff at Majestic wine have the ability to change the programe via a wireless remote control. Another wireless device is under the guardianship of the owners, who at any time are able to override the system at the touch of a button.
The ‘lighthouse’ has now become an iconic part of the Gloucester landscape, displaying the exciting capabilities of lighting control and the potential of combining lighting and tensile fabric within architecture.
