The Castlemilk Lighting Project, part funded by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), will see LED lighting technology installed in the northerly stairwell windows of each of the three, 20 storey, Dougrie Place high rises.
As well as creating a colourful landmark which will be visible right across the city, the lighting system utilises up-to-the-minute internet technology to enable residents to check the current weather conditions - and view the weather outlook for the next day.
The Castlemilk Tenants Housing Association came up with the original concept for the project after taking part in workshops with GHA and Collective Architecture and. In addition to funding from GHA's Wider Action Fund, monies were also secured from Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Government and the Fairer Scotland Fund.
GHA appointed Northern Light to provide technical expertise and to carry out the installation. Building on the initial design concept, Northern Light worked closely with Collective Architecture to create an installation which provided a striking impact on the eye, with minimum impact on the environment.
The design team included Colin Cuthbert and Simon Cooper from Northern Light, who worked alongside Cathy Houston from Collective Architecture to bring the project to fruition.
Brought on board for this particular project in 2007, Collective Architecture have project managed the Dougrie Place Lighting Project from concept to completion.
Colin Cuthbert, managing director of Northern Light, said: "It is becoming increasingly important to ensure that long-term lighting installations offer environmental sustainability wherever possible. The team behind this project were deliberately aiming for an end result that was as near to carbon neutral as possible. They were aware of the environmental benefits of LED lighting and Northern Light installed these one metre LED battens because they met the brief in terms of design, function and environmental impact."
Northern Light installed a total of 180 SFX VR1000 LED battens - three per floor, over 20 floors in the three high rises. Each of the tower blocks houses its own PC and Pharos LPC1 lighting controller, combined with broadband internet connection to enable control from anywhere with internet access. In addition, the system can be programmed to run from RSS feeds to enable a constantly updated visual representation of weather conditions.
(Jim Evans)
