Named after the highly successful Heidi TV show produced by amusement park owners Studio 100, Heidi's commanding position at the end of the park can now be appreciated by both park visitors and passers-by at all times of the day, thanks to an impressive lighting design utilizing fixtures from Chauvet Professional's Iluminarc division.
Luc Peumans and his team at creative design studio Painting With Light was brought on board to give Heidi an exciting night-time visual aesthetic to match the breath-taking experience of the ride itself. They decided upon 74 Iluminarc fixtures, including the Colorist Pod 7Qa, Colorist Panel 8Qa and 36Qa and Colorist Line 12Qa and 6Qa to douse the structure in magnificent saturated glow.
"It was a really amazing honour to be invited to light this beautiful and intricate structure," commented Peumans, whose concept involved highlighting the detail of the 6 million Euro attraction, which is built from some 56,846 meters of wood. "The interesting shape immediately evoked a range of different lighting treatments."
After considerable research and testing, Peumans created a lighting scheme involving three layers - internal, external (with a selection of fixtures grazing up the sides of the structure) and some oblique lights to illuminate the drama of the ramps. The Iluminarc fixtures were positioned on the ground and embedded into or rigged on concrete blocks for ease of service and accessibility.
"The whole Iluminarc range is ideal for exterior illumination projects of this kind," continued Peumans. "The combination of pods, panels and lines provides fantastic collective output for filling lots of different areas and spaces with the structure."
The lighting scheme transforms the rollercoaster into an impressive artwork every night, serving as both a central focal point to the new Heidi Zone, and also for the surrounding area, where it can be clearly seen from miles around.
(Jim Evans)
