The structure is designed to provide shade over a 72,000sq.ft outdoor plaza, and also to serve as a media platform to showcase fashion. At night, The Cloud's skin, an aluminium frame covered with sheet metal, becomes a projection screen. Martin luminaires are used to paint the surface in various colour shades while 6,000W PIGI projectors provide advertising content onto The Cloud. Four large LED screens totaling 30 x 160ft sit below the structure.
Martin's Las Vegas office head Tim Brennan worked with Adam Steyh of lighting supplier Fourth Phase on the project. Steyh was involved in elements of the lighting design, conducted demos and ultimately specified Martin fixtures - 26 Martin Exterior 600 colour changers and six Martin MAC 2000 Performance fixtures. Fourth Phase also completed renderings for the project. Steyh commented: "We wanted to illuminate the bottom of The Cloud in colour, and when the video projection is up wanted colour around the edges. The whole system consists of five PIGI projectors in projection kiosks and because of the limited lighting locations we had to go with the kiosk locations for placement of the Exterior 600s as well."
Lighting design was by David Hahn of Gallegos Lighting who also completed the final fixture placement, focus and handled coverage considerations. The Exterior 600s are positioned at the projection kiosks, greenish smoked glass enclosures in a metal frame. There are three kiosks located between the huge north and south towers - mammoth 182ft columns that suspend the cloud - and one on each end. Six MAC 2000 Performance in domes are located on circular 20ft high signage pylons, punched metal and backlit. The Performance are mostly used to project advertising gobos and provide additional colour and movement. They sweep the courtyard, which is visible from up the Strip, and play on the bottom of The Cloud.
(Lee Baldock)
