Surface Design Awards – Complete

• LANDSCAPE + PUBLIC REALM
  The space around, between and within buildings that is publicly accessible, including streets, squares, parks and open spaces. These areas and settings support or facilitate public life and social interaction.

Lighting Designer: JPLD
Client: Art On The Underground - TFL
Artist: Monster Chetwynd
Fabricator: MDM Props
Contractor: DD RAIL

The unique, pioneering programme, Art on the Underground, was created to bring the works of world-renowned artists into the public domain, changing the way travellers and commuters experience the city.

The latest exhibition, Pond Life: Albertopolis and the Lily, by British artist Monster Chetwynd, is an immersive installation incorporating a series of five disc-shaped sculptures, four metres in diameter, along the length of a discussed platform on Gloucester Road tube station.

Each sculpture is populated with creatures – beetles, dragonfly larvae, tadpoles and tortoises – that appear to be constructing sections of the Crystal Palace. They show the underwater life of the submerged lily pads, their spiny network of veins playing host to the industrious wildlife.

Lighting design studio JPLD has dramatically illuminated the discs like performers on a stage, each one carefully lit to bring out the character and immense level of detail on the individual pieces.
JPLD Creative Director James Poore has been working with Art on the Underground and TfL for more than 20 years, and in that time has worked on a whole host of exciting projects – often unusual, regularly challenging, yet always rewarding.

For Pond Life: Albertopolis and the Lily, JPLD looked to dial up the intensity of the white light on the discs, with a slightly different, cooler white colour temperature to emphasise the discs against the backlit arches and the effects at either end of the platform to really make them stand out. Rather than stepping down into the tunnels of the London Underground it is as if the viewer has stepped beneath the surface of the water, into a subterranean simulation of the Amazon.

JPLD used a different colour temperature of white light projected through a break-up gobo which was then de-focussed to create a mysterious effect on the arches at either end of the platform. The result leaves the viewer discombobulated, wondering if they are indeed under-water, maybe submerged in a secret cave.

Completed/Launched May 2023

CONFIDENTIAL
By reusing the existing luminaires for the install and simply cleaning and refurbishing where required we managed to keep the costs down, in terms of cost of lighting and design fees for the lighting aspect it was delivered for under £30k which most of this was staffing costs and permissions etc involved in the out of hours working, but in terms of materials and equipment (parts to refurbish the fittings) for the lighting we delivered this for under £10k

19 Martin Exterior 400 Image Projector fitted with 2no custom in house designed "keystone" Gobos designed to frame each arch, Rosco break-up Gobos, colour correction filters for reducing the colour temperature from the standard 6500K as well as a selection of standard colours,

19 Pulsar CHROMABATTEN 200 (custom version with RGBAW LED chips)

Controlled by a Pharos control system including outstation 1 universe DMX

We used the Martin Exterior high level luminaires to dramatically illuminate the discs like performers on a stage, each one carefully lit to bring out the character and immense level of detail on the individual pieces. We then supplemented this with carefully positioned Chroma battens gently grazing up from floor level to draw out additional character from the intricate detail on each disk, carefully balancing the light levels and tuning the colour temperature to bring each piece to life.

We used further Chroma battens grazing upwards and tuned to bring out the beautiful colour of the London stock brickwork in the arches with a warm white light carefully dimmed down to create the perfect backdrop for the discs.

The intensity of the white light was dialled up on the discs with a slightly different, cooler white colour temperature to emphasise the discs against the backlit arches and the effects at either end of the platform to really make them stand out.

At the ends of the platform we used the colour flags in the Martin exterior high level fittings combined with the breakup GOBO to create an underwater, aquatic ambiance by de-focussing the fitting and blurring the light it creates a very subtle subterranean effect

Rather than stepping down into the tunnels of the London Underground it is as if the viewer has stepped beneath the surface of the water, into a subterranean simulation of the Amazon.
JPLD used a different colour temperature of white light projected through a break-up gobo which was then de-focussed to create a mysterious effect on the arches at either end of the platform.

The result leaves the viewer discombobulated, wondering if they are indeed under-water, maybe submerged in a secret cave.

In order to be a sustainable as possible we utilised the existing lighting and simply cleaned, repaired and refurbished the lighting. As much as possible was carried out on site during engineering hours to avoid the logistics and costs of removing the fittings, taking them away and then bringing them back.

Those which required off site repair only made one journey out and one journey back, we carefully co-ordinated the logistics so that the lighting was removed over two nights and stored in the station and then removed on the end of the second night shift and taken away to the repair workshop.

We then repaired and refurbished ALL the existing lighting before returning it to site to re-install it (over half was at high level) ready for programming and setting up.

We carried out all weekly design meetings by Zoom and used public transport to get to other in person meetings and carry out site visits, the only time we attended site by car was during the night shift and we used ULEZ compliant vehicles and stayed local to the station to avoid unnecessary journeys, the project became an exercise in sustainability, even the artwork used a lot of reclaimed/recycled sustainably materials.

We have also designed the scheme so that we do not utilise all the luminaires and those that are used are dimmed down, some as low as 18% so in terms of total wattage of lighting used the MAXIMUM not accounting for dimming is only

The biggest challenge for the lighting designers was working in this fairly hostile and restrictive location, where there are strict parameters on what lighting can be used, where it can be located and where it can light.

Safety is obviously paramount so as well as adhering to the rigid standards of London Underground, the fittings needed to be angled so that they do not cause glare or distraction to the train drivers. All setting up and programming also needed to be carried out at night during engineering hours when the power is off and the trains are not running, resulting in many late nights for the design team.

And of course, the station needed to be operational again by 05:00 in the morning so everything needed to be cleared away by 04:30 with no hint as to the forthcoming exhibition to ensure the mystery was maintained until the all-important “reveal” when the artworks were uncovered and the lights turned on.