Northern Light & Collective light up Glasgow towers
Northern Light has installed a lighting system in three Glasgow tower blocks to bring a splash of colour to the city – and predict the weather at the same time.
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 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. 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 support and to carry out the installation. Building on the initial design concept, Northern Light worked 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.
Collective Architecture is based in Glasgow’s Gallowgate and has an ethos of pursuing themes of participation and sustainability in architecture. The company has worked on numerous projects which involve the local community to help regenerate the areas in which they live.
Brought on board for this particular project in 2007, Collective Architecture have project managed the Dougrie Place Lighting Project from concept to completion.
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.
The standard programme of the system is designed to predict the weather. In turn, each of the three towers will show the forecast temperature, the predicted wind direction and the general weather outlook, including cloud cover and rainfall.
Between dusk and 4am, the blocks – which are amongst the tallest in Glasgow – will display the weather prediction for the coming day. From 4 am until dawn breaks the lighting will reflect the current weather conditions.
A web cam and dedicated website are also planned to show live images of the weather beacon as the colours change throughout the hours of darkness.
This £145K project is tied into other GHA initiatives for the regeneration of Castlemilk, including the re-cladding of high rises, new parking areas and landscaping.
Northern Light and Collective Architecture have collaborated before to illuminate derelict water towers in Glasgow as part of a city-wide lighting initiative. This collaboration resulted in a Lighting Design Award for Cranhill Water Tower in 2000.