Ignite Architects developed the idea of a 'heart' space - an interactive and engaging area that people could gravitate to - and, as much of the imagery symbolizing what New Zealanders hold dear is focused on trees, the Pou Manawa was born.
"We had an exhaustive period of early testing to get the best fixture for the projection," says Chris McKenzie of Martin distributor Kenderdine Electrical. "We had other colour changing fixtures specified but when the Exterior 410s became available we changed the specification to use them. The 410s were the perfect solution for the wash units and whilst an indoor installation, the passive cooling on the units was a major bonus."
Working with the Exterior 410s are smartMACs, a bright profile light and image projector with six indexable rotating gobos. The designs float across the complex patterned internal surface of the tree in a continuous 360-degree rotation.
"The smartMAC won out for its long lamp life and low maintenance needs," states McKenzie. "We had a large area of south-facing glass pouring light into the area and after treatment of the glass, the smartMAC was able to generate enough light to do the job successfully."
Twenty-four smartMACs and a like number of Exterior 410s are used in the installation, which runs 21 hours per day, 365 days per year. Programming was done on a Martin Maxxyz PC and Martin M1 console with initial design and renderings completed using the Martin ShowDesigner. All gobos are Apollo stock steel and glass or custom glass.
(Jim Evans)
