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Falkirk Wheel gets all lit up
Architectural fixtures from Studio Due and Robe moving lights and control have been installed in a new permanent lighting set-up at the Falkirk Wheel.
The Wheel, the world's first and only rotating boat lift, links two canals with water levels 115 ft apart and is the centrepiece of the £84.5 million 'Millennium Link' canal restoration project to reconnect the Union Canal with the Forth & Clyde Canal.
Glasgow-based lighting, sound and AV sales and rental company, SSUK, was given a brief by British Waterways to make the structure become 'vibrant and alive' through illumination.
After several on site tests, SSUK specified Studio Due kit in the shape of 31 Mini City 150s with shutters, two City Color 1800s and a City Beam 2.5K.
The City Beam lights the front face of the Wheel and covers the largest surface area, right up to the top. At each end of the wheel are two Mini City's, and dead centre of the main section are the two City Color 1800s, mounted in the well at the base of the structure.
A further two Mini City's are focussed up onto the curved aluminium panel of the main wheelhouse, which contains the control for all the Wheel's mechanics. On each side of the Wheel's four supporting columns are three Mini City's, attached to the concrete with customised brackets. Each fixture is crossed over to light the inner side of the next column.
For the spine of the Wheel only a 12 Volt power supply was available. LED lighting was the only option here so SSUK designed some waterproof 12-way RGB LED fixtures for the job.
Both the LEDs and all the Studio Due equipment is controlled by a Robe 1024 DMX lighting desk.
For inside the adjacent visitor centre, SSUK supplied a selection of Robe Show Lighting 250 and 575 moving heads. These, operated by a separate Robe 512 controller, are used for image and logo projection onto the Wheel for special events, and also for creating colour washes and atmosphere for functions taking place inside the centre.
All the fixtures and control were supplied by Robe UK.
leisure-kit keywords: Robe UK