Brick water towers used to increase water pressure were once a common sight in lower laying areas of Belgium, but Turnhout's massive 38m high tower is now the only one of its kind remaining in the entire Flemish region of the country. The tower was granted landmark status in 1987 and has become a visual focal point for this city located about half way between Antwerp in Belgium and Eindhoven in Holland.
Philips has more than 1,700 employees in Turnhout and its headquarter is located in Eindhoven about 40km away. As gold sponsor of Turnhout's status as 2012 Culture City of Flanders they enthusiastically embraced the idea to make the tower, with its central downtown location, into a colorful beacon and anchor site for the celebration. Philips designed and commissioned a powerful, yet energy efficient, LED lighting system that provides full RGB coverage of the round building.
"LED light sources were ideal because of the dynamic nature of this lighting concept," says George Neve, outdoor key account manager at Philips. "We can now illuminate the tower in many different colors to match particular events or the seasons. Moreover; the new system has significantly reduced light pollution and consumes significantly less power than the system it replaced."
LumenRadio's CRMX technology was an obvious solution to provide DMX/RDM signal distribution for this project without involving any expensive, disruptive, or time consuming installation of cables. One Flex and three Receivers from the CRMX Extreme Outdoor Series, provided by LumenRadio's Belgian distributor AVL, were strategically placed and installed by Philips Belgium to enable optimal fixture placement for even 360 degree coverage of the circular structure.
The system has already proven its ability to withstand long periods of extreme weather thanks to its combination of an IP67 rated inner enclosure and a vandal proof mounting cover that also provides protection from harsh environmental forces.
"Inspirational, colourful, and dynamic lighting was an import design goal for this project as the water tower functions as a welcoming gesture to Turnhout's many visitors", says Luc Buytaert, technical manager at AVL, "Equally important was also to design a system that would function without much maintenance for many years after the initial one-year celebration of Turnhout's status as Cultural City of Flanders.
"Finding equipment that can work reliably through the harsh and humid winter is difficult or sometimes impossible, but LumenRadio's CRMX technology has proven to be able to operate in any kind of weather over extended periods of time and still perform flawlessly."
(Jim Evans)
