Anolis lights Waltham Forest Town Hall
- Details
The impressive Grade II listed building is the HQ of Waltham Forest London Borough Council, and the exterior lighting scheme was part of a substantial two-year refurbishment and upgrade project involving the whole building and its immediate environs.
HawkinsBrown architects was appointed to transform the stripped classical style Town Hall opened in 1942 into an integrated modern workspace combined with a lively civic campus that would welcome staff, visitors, and residents to the heart of a thriving and diverse east London community.
As part of that masterplan, HawkinsBrown tasked the Pritchard Themis team with crafting the exterior lighting.
A stylish signature white illumination was created for the front of the large H-shaped Portland Stone building, complete with an array of colour changing special looks to celebrate ‘flag days’, national and ethnic festivals plus other cultural and social events and occasions.
The renovations involved the design and installation of a centrepiece water feature in Civic Square, the plaza in front of the complex, comprising 144 individually programmable water jets that can light up and dance to music, which has been a big hit with the public.
In addition to illuminating the Town Hall facades in the crisp white base colour, the Emineres provide coloured backdrops to offset the water feature, so colour was central to Peter’s quest for a bright RGBW linear fixture with a low profile and a tailored finish for maximum neatness.
High colour rendering was another prerequisite, sustainability was a given and the luminaire needed to be available in different lengths and with a variety of optics.
Fifty-six Eminere 1, 2, 3 and 4 RGBWs are located around the building, mostly attached to a low perimeter ledge, with some deployed on the (window) balcony facades to help eliminate shadows.
The different lengths and beam angles were meticulously calculated to give optimum coverage and the classy, streamlined appearance that Pritchard Themis envisioned.
Eighteen inground Eminere 2s are carefully positioned to up light the central portico area, its four prominent columns and the relief behind to complete the look.
DMX control of the Anolis fixtures means the building lighting scheme can be hooked into guest lighting systems for events staged in and around the plaza, as it is intended to host year-round arts and cultural events.
The consulting engineers were Ramboll and the main contractors were ISG, with the Anolis and façade lighting programming completed by Maria Jenkins on behalf of Lug Lighting. Integral to the whole project were landscape architects, Churchman Thornhill Finch.
