Architectural lighting specialist Lighting Technology Projects (LTP) has specified and supplied a fiber-optic lighting installation at the Transco Gas station building in the North London town of Swiss Cottage. The steel clad building, designed by Gustafson Porter, is an integral part of a current 85 million pound urban regeneration project in the area–resulting in a new community center, library, luxury apartments, and new theatre with a landscaped open space. LTP’s Terry Reeves helped specify the scheme with lighting designer Martin Richmon.
The gas station is comprised of two structural elements: the rear portion distributes the gas; and the front highly visible "market stall" area, which is directly on the main vehicle and pedestrian route through the town and contains attractive light work.
For the project, LTP designed and built two 3m light slots (boxes)–architecturally sculpted into the rear of the building where the two elements meet–and illuminated two trees in the rear of the building.
The bespoke light slots could not contain any internal voltage, so they were designed to be fiber fed with three end-fed fibers top and bottom, plus two 150W metal halide illuminators per box. They also had to be Zone 1 rated and intrinsically safe due to their proximity to the gas station.
To light the trees, Reeves worked off Richmon’s original artist design and specified 750m of P-Light loom, containing over 7,000 lamps in total. The looms were chosen due to the small size of the light source and the finish and IP rating. The looms are carefully woven around the main trunk and entwined through the branches of the trees. They are powered by mains voltage supplied through armoured cable to the base of the tree trunks.
Both trees and light slots are astronomically controlled via a photo cell and time clock.
