A severely dilapidated cluster of Victorian factory buildings, in what used to be a toffee factory, has been reborn as true "Eye Candy" upon the river Tyne. LumenRadio, together with UK OEM partner LITE Ltd. and Philips Lighting, was recently chosen to illuminate the Toffee Factory Centre; a landmark office development for the creative industries in the Gateshead district of Newcastle, UK.
The stunning project has received 3 awards from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the coveted Award for Sustainability from the Royal Institute of British Architectures (RIBA), and is on the long-list for their very prestigious Sterling Prize.
LITE worked with the lighting designers from Staintons Lighting Design Services and local architectural firm Xsite in deploying Philips Color Kinetics Color Graze fixtures to light up the facades and the nearby brick railway bridges. Powerful long-throw Color Reach fixtures illuminate a very tall industrial chimney left over from the factory days and have turned it into a giant beacon guiding visitors from miles away to special events on the site.
"Toffee Factory has amazing lighting and looks stunning at night, and what better way than turning our chimney into a giant glowstick to raise awareness of Newcastle and Gateshead's late night culture event, The Late Shows," says Toffee Factory's Centre Manager Lisa Tolan.
A Pharos LPC1 controls the elaborate lighting installation and control signal distribution is handled by LumenRadio's CRMX OEM cards installed inside Philips CK Data Enablers co-located with the fixtures.
"LITE and their partners have done an excellent job and we are always excited to see what fascinating projects will come next from this very creative company. They have done many spectacular installations over the years and the Toffee Factory truly shines among them all", says Jessica Björk, Sales & Marketing Manager at LumenRadio, "We are very fortunate and proud to have LITE as an OEM partner!"