The experience brings to life Sony's new global strap line, make.believe and presents Sony as an entertainment brand to the visitors of T5. The interior of the helix structure that was built by Litestructures is made up of 22 screens. Powered by Sony technology, they display a bespoke 360-degree film journey that mixes filmed footage of the airport with created animation and Sony content.
The film transports passengers through the roof of T5, past the London skyline and the surrounding countryside, and then into a hyper-real galaxy. Once in space, the make.believe 'dots' explode into film, game and music content all from the family of Sony companies. The concept and realization was deemed so innovative and immersive that PD3 scooped the Gold award for Sony in the Brand Experience category at the recent Marketing Design Awards held on 2 November in London.
Litestructures was involved with the project at an early stage. "We were provided with the design concept and worked extensively with the agency's creative design team to produce a structure that would bring their vision to life," says Litestructures project manager, James Chapman. "Material selection and creative fabrication were key to the success of this project as the aim was to create maximum visual impact."
The brief was to deliver a structural aluminium helix sub-frame which was then clad with the traditional Sony satin black finish with an internal reverse colour to support the screens on the inside. Colour-changing LED illumination was provided on the underside rim of the helix to add visual interest when viewed from the outside as well as illuminating the interior.
The Litestructures team created a design using a framework made up of 18 sections that inter-connected to form the helix. A recessed product shelf on the exterior of the helix along with TV mounting units, LED lighting trays and seating all had to be built into the substructure in such a way that once clad, the feel of the design would be flowing and seamless.
The LED lighting scheme was integrated throughout the sub-structure of the helix and mounted against opal polycarbonate to diffuse the individual LED modules. This implementation allowed the client to illuminate the structure and give the unit maximum presence within the terminal building.
The LED modules were programmed and are controlled from a LiteSwitch unit housed in a special enclosure along with the individual controls for the 3D TV units. The entire LED system was fully configurable and programmable and synchronized with the 3D TV, allowing anyone with minimal training to operate the colour-change and program the system. The control system was developed by Litestructures and was under a digital code lock for safety.
(Jim Evans)
