The Rococo Gardens are a significant tourist attraction (photo: Ann-Marie Randall)
UK - The Rococo Gardens in the heart of the English Cotswolds are a significant tourist attraction, with stunning Rococo architectural features and large scale avenues of trees all crying out to be lit during the dark winter months. Due to planning regulations and preservation of the original theme, installed electrical power is barred, thus preventing any night illumination and meaning early closure especially during winter months.

Core Lighting, with its headquarters nearby in the Cotswolds, was contracted to supply their battery-powered and Wireless-DMX (WDMX) controlled architectural lighting systems. For an evening Core added a splash of colour into the canopies of the trees and the houses. The avenues of trees and Exedra with its water feature were brought alive. The whole scheme was lifted through the mist and drizzle of the evening; also thanks to the waterproof capabilities of the products. This added a certain magical feeling, creating a completely new appearance to these exquisite architectural delights beyond the darkness.

Blueprint Events, local stockists of Core POINT20 & 30 series products for rentals, conducted the whole affair laying out the lightweight and portable lighting units and organising the colour schemes to bring the gardens alive. With the on-board wireless system they were able to control the whole scheme across the gardens from a couple of Core POINT30 Master units. This enabled a scheme to be very rapidly set up from the Exedra on one side of the valley to the Eagle House across the other side, all controlled in perfect synchronisation.

Garden director Paul Moir commented, "What impressed us most was the portability and flexibility of the lighting system. It was possible to change the mood of a building or tree from the bright and playful to the dark and sinister at the press of a centralised button. Our problem is that with no power in the Garden, we literally can do nothing after dusk as we cannot get people out of the grounds. The logistics of long wires are out of the question and any generators would destroy the ambience particularly for music and plays. For us it will extend the use of the Gardens into the evening as we will be able to create these atmospheric moods and light paths to show visitors around."

"We were delighted to be asked to work with the Rococo Gardens", says Phil Ion, director at Core Lighting. "It really showed the products off to their best ability, with their portability, fast deployment, strong wireless performance, waterproof casing and sheer brightness. Some of those tree canopies were extremely tall so being able to light a whole avenue of them all changing colour in perfect harmony made us realise why we had designed these products in the first place."

(Jim Evans)


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