BRISTOL, U.K. — Blueprint Events, based here, which acquired a stock of SGM LED fixtures, has been using them for applications ranging from the electro tent at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium to London’s Battersea Power Station (pictured here), which recently played host to Shine, Cancer Research UK’s full and half marathon nighttime walking events that raise funds for cancer research.
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Starting at this London landmark, the illuminated night-time walk, now in its fourth year, passed a number of equally iconic buildings on the way, including London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament.
The spectacular illumination began at Battersea itself, where Blueprint Events’ Chris Morgan was brought in to dramatically wash the Power Station itself, using six SGM P-5 LED floods. His company also used some of their 2-metre LT-200 3D pixel tubes to create a stunning tunnel.
Back in the summer the Bristol based company had made a giant leap of faith in the Danish manufacturer’s products, purchasing 250 LT-200s and 84 SGM ILD Drivers to complement their prior investment in SGM’s LB-100 balls. These were immediately cross hired to Sonoss, as part of a complement of 3,300 LT-200 pixel tubes for a revolutionary immersive design in the electro tent at the Pukkelpop Festival.
Conceptually worlds away from the rock festival, but with no less impact, the Battersea tunnel was to be the next deployment.
Explains Chris Morgan, “We were looking to find an exciting visual experience to welcome the 16,000 people back from their fantastic achievement. The tubes, with their external IP rating and minimal size, provided the perfect way to produce a vibrant and vivid effect whilst appearing almost invisible when not illuminated. This gave the impression of the light floating in space, and fitted our brief perfectly.”
The tubes were suspended on a framework to allow participants to see inside and out as they moved through the finish line and down the tunnel towards the recovery area.
In addition, the P-5’s were relocated to one of the significant ‘pit stops’ around the city to draw attention to scientific building, The London Research Institute.
Says Morgan, “The magnificent output of these units, combined with their compact size and power efficiency, allowed them to be deployed reliable and quickly. With a very short time span to set up each pit stop, speed was of the essence, and the P-5 was the perfect choice for this building.
“Using the Android phone app allowed for the units to be programmed in advance and instant changes made on site to get the colours just right.”
Following Shine, Cancer Research UK launched several other events in October requiring lighting that matched both theme and budget. “Once again, the SGM LT-200 tubes were the perfect choice, with their size and weight allowing for quick setup,” confirms Chris. They were used on multiple gantries and permitted viewing with maximum effect from all angles where traditional LED fixtures would have left large dark areas.
“We also used the SGM LB-100 balls, driven from the same ILD controllers to add more depth to the gantries. Durable water resistant power supplies and low voltage fixtures make these products perfect for these applications.”
Many of these installations were operated from Blueprint’s recently developed self-contained PowerCubes that work off Lithium Cells to run perfectly silently and without the need for cabling around site. “Some of the installations were up to 1km apart and the efficiency and performance of the LEDs in the SGM range made it a perfect combination with our PowerCubes.
“The tubes provide such a flexible effect there are so many more options to explore than just hanging them vertically.”
With a background in event transformation and draping, Chris Morgan says high emphasis is placed on detail and design consideration for the surrounding space. “This made the selection of SGM’s range of products a natural extension to our hire stock.
“As for the future, we are only just beginning to scratch the surface with the ways in which the 3D pixel tubes and LB Balls can be used. We are looking forward to working with other designers and production companies with, what I’m sure will be, even more creative ideas.”
