A major challenge was mounting the fixtures in the right places for optimal lighting effect (Olivier Hannauer - La Chouette Photo)
France - The impressive Mairie de Pantin is being illuminated by a new Anolis LED lighting scheme designed by Rozenn Le Couillard from Noctiluca commissioned by the city council to tastefully highlight their newly renovated flagship building.
The modern Renaissance-style building, constructed in 1850 and inaugurated as the district’s town hall in 1886, is in the town of Pantin, Seine-Saint Denis, now a suburb of Paris, and overlooks a square formed by the intersection of two major road arteries, the Avenue du Général-Leclerc and Avenue Édouard-Vaillant.
It received historical monument status in 2017, and that same year the renovation project was launched to recondition the roof and front façade.
The client specifically wanted a lighting scheme that could offer a stylish signature warm white look as well as dynamic-coloured effects, enabling them to transform the building for events and special occasions.
Rozenn looked for workable solutions that would offer this versatility and picked Anolis, using a combination of RGBW IP67 and IP68-rated ArcSource MC fixtures - ArcSource Outdoor 4MCs, ArcSource Outdoor 16MCs and ArcSource Inground 24MCs.
She worked closely with Bruno Francois at Anolis to ensure that the exact requirements to bathe the building in beautiful lumens were met.
As a protected building, architect Grégoire Oudin from APGO was also involved in the process. A major challenge was mounting the fixtures in the right places for optimal lighting effect, without damaging or compromising the integrity and appearance of the building.
The front features six distinctive vertical lines of light which define the symmetry of the architecture and highlight the ornate stonework and gargoyles that decorate the façade.
Around the base of the building - six at the front and four at the back - are 10 Inground ArcSource 24MCs with seven 42 lenses and one 60° foil and this was to get a narrow angle one side of the light path and an elliptical one the other, keeping the lines up the building tight and vertical and in keeping with the desired effect.
Set-back 2-3m or so from the façade, this proved the only solution for achieving this specific effect using a suitable RGBW architectural LED fixture.
The top sections of these vertical lines of light on the two end sections of the building - front and rear - are created using 12 ArcSource Outdoor 4MCs with 24° lenses.
These elevated 4MCs had to match up precisely with the 24MC in-grounds down below which was a meticulous task.
For the main entrance, the first-floor balcony and the ornate vertical columns either side of both these features, five ArcSource 4 MCs are deployed.
Three of these are on the balcony itself. The middle one is fitted with a seven 42° lens to graze up the first-floor window central to the balcony, while the outer two have tighter 7° lenses to pick out the sculptures.
The remaining two 4MCs are fitted with 60 7° lenses, and they light the bottom of the balcony as well as lining up with the central two Ingrounds, which ensure that the entrance arch and doorway is precisely highlighted.
To crown the Mairie’s new lighting scheme, three 4MCs with 40° lenses are secured in the campanile / bell tower, so its inside and roof subtly shimmers.
At the back of the Mairie, two pole mounted 16MCs with seven 42 lenses sit approximately four metres high and positioned equidistant from the centre, joined by another two 16MCs, also with seven 42 lenses, located on the floor behind the handrail of a stone balcony that protrudes from the front of the centre section.
Robe France delivered the fixtures to SPX and the installation was completed by CITEOS Grands Projets, a French urban lighting department of multi-national energy and infrastructure specialist, VINCI Energies.
The IP controlled Pharos controller can be accessed any time via the internet, and Anolis France worked with Lumieres Utiles, a company specialising in building control systems which consults with lighting designers and manufacturers to facilitate custom controllers with the right parameters for the individual project.
A different standard lighting scheme has been created for each of the four seasons which is primarily white with some restrained colour inflections.

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