LONDON – On Feb. 4, the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) Showcase took place within the Tower of London. White Light supported the event’s lighting needs, supplying a variety of CORE Lighting fixtures including StripPoints, Point30s, Flood30s, ColourPoints and PinPoints. White Light also supported the event’s production needs with video and audio gear.
More details from White Light (www.WhiteLight.Ltd.uk):
The Tower of London, Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress, is located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. Built almost a thousand years ago, the Tower is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and regularly hosts a range of functions and events. On Thursday 4th February, it hosted the HRP Showcase, which gave guests the opportunity to view the incredible function and event spaces available within its historic grounds.
As the approved supplier for Historic Royal Palaces, White Light was asked to provide the production support for the evening and transform one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks.
At the start of the Showcase, guests arrived at the Tower of London’s West Gate entrance. Once inside, they were greeted by the exterior of the New Armouries building lit in bright, luminous colors by CORE Lighting StripPoints. CORE Point30s were used to light the main stairs leading up to the 11th century White Tower, whilst CORE Flood30s were used to light the pathways within the grounds. CORE Lighting, for which WL is the exclusive distributor, was also used for the evening dinner. CORE ColourPoints were situated throughout the room and frequently changed color as the evening progressed.
Similarly, CORE PinPoints were used to highlight the floral decorations situated throughout, with their magnetic casing meaning that no rigging or cabling was required. Phil Ion, CORE Lighting’s Founder, who was on-hand for the Showcase, comments: “With this particular event, we utilized all four main CORE products. Due to their versatility, this meant we could use them in both the indoor and outdoor spaces”.
As part of the Showcase, guests were taken on a guided tour of the Crown Jewels before making their way to the White Tower for a drinks reception. With the White Tower, WL projected a series of animated projections created by Graham Clarkin of GeeFX, which completely encapsulated the building’s exterior. This saw the company draw on its ever-growing video projection inventory, utilizing an array of Christie Boxer Projectors to achieve this impressive effect.
Andy Hook, WL’s Technical Solutions Director, comments: “To project onto the White Tower was extremely ambitious, especially when you consider the fact that we had less than an hour to set up on the evening itself. It was fantastic to see a recognizable and distinguished building being used in such an interesting way and, for the majority of guests, they’d never seen anything like it before”.
As the complete production solution specialist, WL also provided its audio services along with the lighting and projection. These were utilized predominantly in the New Armouries, for speeches by Historic Royal Palaces’ representatives along with a live band.
WL’s Project Manager Phil Gladman oversaw the logistics of the evening. He comments: “For the audio support, we drew on K-Array KR202 speakers, Shure SM57 and SM58 wired microphones, all of which were controlled by a Yamaha QL1 mixer. It was important that every single aspect of the evening had the best support possible, whether it was the tour, the drinks reception or the dinner”.
Sam Glenister-Batey, Commercial Events Manager at the Tower of London, comments: “The idea behind the showcase was to highlight how the historic setting of the Tower can be combined with any contemporary theme to create a truly unforgettable event. We were delighted with the service that WL provided. It was wonderful to see the Tower of London transformed in such a way and the feedback we received from guests was outstanding.”
The evening was another example of WL using its various production services to transform a traditional space. WL’s Director Richard Wilson comments: “As a company, we are in a unique position to offer venues a dedicated and experienced events team whilst at the same time being able to supply the very latest in lighting and AV technology. With the HRP Showcase, we wanted to create a truly impressive spectacle for guests; something we strive for on every event we work on”.
