Twelve James Thomas PixelPAR 90 LED fixtures are at the core of a new high-impact exterior architectural lighting scheme at the Royal & SunAlliance building in Bristol.

The Grade II listed West Gate building was designed by renowned British architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott - who's work included national landmarks like Battersea & Bankside Power Stations, Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral and the classic red British Telephone Box.

Royal & SunAlliance was keen to stamp its own modern - and lasting - identity on the building for the 21st century. It also wanted an innovative and high quality scheme to reinforce West Gate as a prominent city centre landmark. Construction was started in 1937 and completed in 1941. It officially opened for commercial use in 1950. It was occupied by the Electricity Board until more recently, and in 1991, was comprehensively refurbished, renamed "West Gate" and occupied by Royal Insurance (now Royal & SunAlliance).

An additional challenge was that the ‘Listed' status meant no signage could be attached to the exterior. Keen to embrace new technology, Royal & SunAlliance decided that lighting was an inventive solution that would also create local interest and give the building a new nocturnal presence compatible with the City Council's desire to improve the visual impact of lighting in the centre.

The 12 fully-weatherised PixelPAR 90s are mounted on a ledge around the bottom of the building's curved front fascia, beaming upwards and producing a fabulously smooth and even coverage. The fascia width is approximately 100 ft and the curve is 120 degrees.

The fixtures are programmed to step through a colour-changing sequence of green, yellow and blue - Royal & SunAlliance's corporate colours. For special occasions the building is changed into specific colour schemes e.g. red for Remembrance Day or rainbow colours for Christmas. The lighting can also be used to highlight special promotions.



The lighting scheme was initially conceived by Surrey-based lighting design consultancy Pinniger & Partners. They had originally specified a metal halide lamp sourced to light the front of the curved fascia, and then contacted Bristol-based Fineline to demo the specialist kit needed. However, in the two and a half years between the lighting scheme being designed and the installation receiving the requisite planning and other permissions permission and going out to tender, PixelPARs had come onto the market.

They were "A far superior product" states Fineline's Darren Wring, who also won the project's specialist lighting installation contract via a competitive tendering process. Fineline conducted another demo, this time using PixelPAR 90s. These not only covered the area better, but also had the massive advantages of being physically more discreet, needing no bulb changes and very little maintenance.

Their low power consumption meant that R&SA would not only save money on long-term everyday ruining costs and be more environmentally friendly, but that the electrical plant installation - power and cabling - could be scaled right down. The power supply was accordingly reduced from a 63 Amp 3-phase to two single 16 Amp feeds.

The PixelPARs are run via a LightProcessor Replica replay unit, programmed via a QCommander desk. The lighting is looked after on site by Royal & SunAlliance Facilities Manager, Richard McDonough. He comments that the lighting scheme - which also includes other lighting fixtures and a host of LED signs in the windows, all supplied by Fineline - "Is absolutely first class", adding "We regularly get positive feedback from passers by, and it's generally been a massive hit with the community in Bristol".