Laser Grafix's Paul Green and DPL’s Darren Parker designed the scheme, working closely with structural engineer John Orrel, who advises the West Pier Trust on the state of the structure. Equipment could only be rigged in very specific places, and the floor beneath the luminaires at all these points had to first be strengthened with spreader boards. Parker chose 16 Studio Due City Colors for the job - picked for their power and weather-resistance. Four are positioned around the perimeter of the Ballroom (the first building); four are inside the Ballroom shell, pointing outwards. A further four are positioned at the front of the building, some at the side of the structure and some on the new metal walkway running between the shore and the Pavilion. The final four City Colors sit on the last inches of the Ballroom section decking, beaming back towards the Pavilion end building, which appears ghostlike against the background.
Five Space Flowers twist, twirl and shoot beams into the night sky, positioned on sections of walkway between the two pier buildings, and between the shore and the Ballroom. The pier’s grimy, corroded underbelly is illuminated with 16 metal halide fixtures. DPL custom-built several IP44-rated DMX switching racks to enable the switching of large inductive loads. Because running signal cables to the pier was completely impractical, DPL turned to Artistic Licence to provide a solution. An Art-Net radio system was used to broadcast DMX to the various lighting points used, with the transmitter sitting by the Jands Hog lighting desk sited in the ticket booth, on the esplanade. For power, they tailed in to the Pier’s own 100 amp three-phase, which they upgraded from 63 amps for the project. Darren Parker commented: "We will always choose Art-Net on a project like this as it is reliable, affordable and allows us to cope with the most challenging of DMX512 distribution problems."
The scheme has gone down a storm with the local residents, and the West Pier Trust are considering doing it again for much longer.
(Lee Baldock)
