Over 160 CORE Lighting wireless LED fixtures were used to illuminate various areas in and around the iconic Tower of London for an event attended by 200 guests and staged by Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) to showcase the capabilities of their event spaces at the unique attraction.
The ColourPoint, PinPoint, StripPoint and Flood30 fixtures were used to highlight architecture and enhance the evening atmosphere of this premier historic site and London landmark where the CORE units were exclusively used for the lighting throughout.
The creative lighting schemes were a collaboration between CORE and its European distributor White Light, designed to illustrate how the dynamics of the different event spaces can be transformed with the application of visual layers – from lighting and projection mapping to floral arrangements and catering – all adding magic and value to the equation.
CORE staff, including MD Phil Ion, were on site to assist in maximising all the lighting opportunities.
Event guests first visited the Jewel House to view the Crown Jewels and on exiting proceeded to the White Tower, the oldest part of the Tower castle complex and the old keep, originally built to subdue unruly Londoners and deter foreign invaders! The side of the White Tower was pixel mapped for the occasion, featuring a selection of projected video sequences.
The route between the two locations – some statues, a large colourful cannon and the pathway to the White Tower were all lit with CORE’s robust high brightness, IP65 rated Flood30 portable floodlight products, creating brightly lit pathways and adding atmosphere, against the backdrop of Tower Bridge lit up just beyond.
It was the first time that the more industrial Flood30s have been used on an event in this way … an approach that worked very well.
Various features like the ruins of the Wardrobe Tower – originally built between 1190 and 1199, the staircase in the White Tower, which ascends over three storeys – were dramatically up-lit from below using five CORE Point30 colour floodlights, tuned to a rich tungsten amber colour, while the various artefacts and floral arrangements dotted around inside the entrance were picked out with CORE’s tiny single-pixel PinPoints.
Upstairs again, the walls of the banqueting hall, now a museum area, on the first floor of the White Tower were washed with CORE StripPoint battens, and the relief of the alcoves and windows around the room highlighted with CORE’s flagship ColourPoint wireless uplighter.
Guests passed through this museum area then through the Chapel of St. John to the adjacent Court room which was set up as the drinks reception and bar. Features around the room were illuminated with PinPoints in warm white, including two enormous flower displays on the bar and other spectacular looking and sweet smelling bouquets positioned around the room.
The ancient flint walls of the room were accentuated by StripPoints positioned so the light grazed up the walls, juxtaposing the surfaces with the sofas placed in front with the warm comfortable reddish glow.
Six majestic oak columns traversing each side of the room were up-lit with shafts of light from ColourPoints.
The overall event theme was ‘Tradition Retold’ and the signature reddish colour for the lighting was inspired by the oak and stone elements of the buildings and the site’s historic ambience “which we wanted to emphasise in a subtle and indirect yet high impact way” explained Phil Ion.
When the White Tower element of the event was concluded, guests went back outside and crossed the road to the New Armouries, where the long façade was lit with just seven StripPoints – such is the power and even coverage of this source – which produced a stunning effect.
Later in the evening the entire side of the White Tower was also lit with just 6 of these units, turning the full 90ft height (5/6 storeys) the same uniform colour.
Inside, the New Armouries was set up as a gala dinner with 20 tables, each featuring a floral arrangement and streaming parasol at the centre which were attractively lit with tightly focussed PinPoints. The fixture’s magnetic base meant they could be attached to metal brackets around the oak structural beams, and the flexible goose-neck enabled precise focus of the source … exactly where it was needed.
The walls of this room were all ‘traditionally’ lit with ColourPoints in a standard configuration, shooting up the walls. The oak panels around the lower portions of the walls were bathed in the reflections which made them pop out from the walls in a 3D effect. The lightsources also bounced off the floor, adding to the general atmospheric glow around the room.
The bar and two more sumptuous flower arrangements were each picked out with two warm white PinPoints that were resting on nearby ledges, once again illustrating the versatility of these small fixtures which can be safely positioned virtually anywhere!
The warm inviting glow of lighting the room also helped provide a perfect setting for guests to view the spectacular vista of Tower Bridge and the Thames.
All of the CORE products used were controlled via wireless DMX and linked to one lighting console, and could be switched between ‘atmospheric’ / ‘environmental’ and ‘party’ modes to match the different moods required at different times around the various event locations.
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