LTP's Terry Reeves was contacted by the project's lighting designer Martin Richmon to help specify the scheme - the two having worked together on a myriad of previous projects. The substation is comprised of two structural elements. The rear portion which deals with distributing the actual gas, and the front 'market stall' area, which is prominent, highly visible and directly on the pavement and main vehicle and pedestrian route through Swiss Cottage. This front fascia contains an attractive light work.
LTP was involved in designing and building two 3m light slots (boxes), architecturally sculpted into the rear of the building where its two spaces meet, and the illumination of two mature trees to the rear. These are the nearest ones to the substation on the piazza outside, adjacent to the Hampstead Theatre. The bespoke light slots could not contain any internal voltage, so they were designed to be fibre fed with three end-fed fibres top and bottom plus two 150W metal halide illuminators per box. They also had to be Zone 1 rated and intrinsically safe due to their proximity to the gas sub station.
For the trees, Terry Reeves worked off Richmon's original artist's impression and specified 750m of P-Light loom, containing over 7,000 lamps in total. The looms were chosen given the small size of the light source and the finish and IP rating. These are carefully woven around the main trunk and entwined through the branches of the tress. They're powered by mains voltage supplied through armoured cable to the base of the tree trunks. Both trees and light slots are astronomically controlled via a photo cell and time clock.
(Lee Baldock)
