Lonsdale Gateway

The City of Melbourne along with the Greek Orthodox community of Melbourne and Victoria, the 3rd largest Greek community in the world, put together an ambitious project for their CBD precinct. On the 18th of October 2011, the project was realised through to execution of what was once an ambitious idea. On the corner of Lonsdale and Russell streets, now suspends a web-like veil of power and data cables that stretch across the intersection Suspending 144 Greek-inspired LED lights from the four posts that feature design elements which also link to Melbourne’s Greek precinct and act as an Iconic gateway to the area.

The City of Melbourne via Project Director Ian Dryden presented this concept to Engineers, Webb Australia, for the design and engineering of the spectacular CBD feature. Webb in turn looked to veteran lighting projects company Lightmoves, to supply a solution for the light fittings and control, having worked together on iconic projects such as the Victorian Arts Centre spire and Craigieburn Bypass LED Wall.

Having recently completed the award winning AAMI Park Stadium LED feature lighting in partnership with local LED manufacturer Space Cannon Australia, Lightmoves considered what solutions developed for AAMI Park could be utilised for the Lonsdale Gateway. After accessing the valuable data gained from over 12 months of uninterrupted running of the Space Cannon Nike 6 it was decided to utilise a similar version of this fittings but further customised for catenary lighting and pluggable for ease of installation and removal for maintenance. So the solution became 144 SpaceCannon ‘Nike’ 6 fittings, customised with red LED’s removed and replaced with white LED’s and using 432 channels of RDM DMX all controlled via a DMX Streamer.

Lonsdale Gateway is one of the most ambitious feature lighting installations ever undertaken over an intersection in Australia. The installation was achieved via High Access Group, a specialist electrical installation company, not a job for the faint hearted. “With the project hanging above such a busy intersection, installation had to be managed carefully and at times that didn’t disrupt traffic conditions” explains Lightmoves project manager Aaron Binion.

The subtle programing of light changes, was designed so not to distract drivers passing through the intersection. “We chose to program the installation using GrandMA on PC as we could use it’s wire frame visualizer to program the sequences in the office and work through them with the Client without the need to go onsite and turn the system on. By using a range of group, colour and effect presets we were able to program the sequences with ease” explains Lightmoves Project Manager, Mark Hopkins.

Once again Lightmoves ability to engineer a solution, taking into account all stakeholders, has proven their ability to deliver a spectacular outcome.

Equipment List:

  • 144 x SpaceCannon Custom ‘Nike’ fitting (Red was removed and replaced with white).
  • 144 x Custom brackets to hang on the catenary wire
  • 2 x RDM DMX Splitters
  • 1 x DMX Streamer with Astronomical Clock.

 

Stay Connected - Join Our Mailing List

Sign Me Up