The Tottenham Court Road Gala installation utilises 45 VersaTUBES, integrated vertically into a central feature of the main bar on the first floor. This is part of an extensive aesthetic revamp for the venue. The physical installation was completed by Viking Electrics and PID commissioned the TUBEs to Reason's specification. The lighting feature gives the space a completely new lease of life and vitality - immediately drawing guests to the bar and breaking the ice as a conversation piece.
PID's David March says, "It was great working with Paula and Cadmium again after the Hard Rock project. It's inspiring seeing someone who is clearly tuned in to the great atmospheric enhancing potential of these products and is using them in new and innovative ways".
Reason and PID collaborated on creating the video content for the TUBES, producing 18 clips, ranging from dreamy clouds to liquid abstracts and other elements like fire. These were all programmed onto one of Element Labs' C1 controllers by PID, which can be selected to run a variety of preset patterns and effects.
The Leicester installation is a new build and has a different feel. The bar is again semi-circular, but the room is much bigger, airier and more contemporary than the London site. The Tube installation again uses 45 fixtures in a similar configuration, with glass shelves running around the feature so the lighting interacts with all the bottles.
Leicester has an ice theme, so blues and frosty purples are the predominant 'standard' content colour, whereas at Tottenham Court Road, the feel is faster and more clubby, so red is the main colour. However both venues have several alternative sets of content and colours plus additional clips for special events and occasions - one of the many advantages of the system's versatility.
To the side of the bar in Leicester is the card room, which features - for the first time in the UK - VersaTILE x 3 strips, each containing a five-pixel unit measuring10cm high and 50cm long. The panels - 62 in total - are set into the wall and curve around the Card Room. There is also a series of plasma screens between the blocks of tiles.
Reason explains that they wanted something impressive in here but that didn't distract people playing, so the content is gentler and slower with lots of calming blues. The card room can also be cleared and the glass screen folded back so it becomes an extension to the bar area - and at the touch of a button - the TILE content can be jazzed up to match that of the bar.There are two C1 controllers in Leicester - one each for bar and Card Room. Cadmium and PID again produced all the content for both controllers, and the electrical installation was undertaken by G T Ranby.
(Lee Baldock)
