Both schemes have been designed by David Bryant of Spirit Design UK, and are part of Glasgow City Council's Lighting Strategy for the City. nva began to develop artist-led lighting designs for buildings having been awarded a grant of £95,000 from the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund. A number of keynote buildings, structures and architectural details were and partnership funding was acquired through Glasgow City Council's £2.4m lighting strategy and from the building owners themselves.
The two lighting schemes being launched this spring are the most ambitious to date and will set a benchmark for urban lighting design in terms of scale, execution and technology. Bryant’s lighting scheme for the Glasgow College of Building & Printing transforms the Le Corbusier-influenced rooftop. The new design, which is based around LED and fibre-optic technology, punctuates the lively shipping references on the roof level, articulating the funnel and deck shapes with gently contrasting colours. For the Glasgow Tidal Weir, Bryant again used LED fixtures to create a simple but bold illumination of the bridge fascia, piers and support structures, lifting the bridge out of the surrounding landscape. Additional drama is added with the use of lights focused onto the water maximizing reflections from the water spume. An array of miniature beacons has been added to the handrail of the bridge and within the engineering mechanics to add an energy and clarity to the top section of the bridge.
(Ruth Rossington)
