Helvar has worked closely with award-winning lighting design practice LD+A on the transformation of the historic Museum of London into a world-class visitor attraction.

The Museum of London is one of the world’s largest urban history museums and has over two million objects in its collection. Part of this collection includes the largest archaeological archive in Europe. The museum has recently completed a £20m refurbishment project which has transformed the Museum’s lower floor galleries to offer a fresh approach that engages visitors with the voices of the city.

Helvar has provided the lighting control system for the impressive lighting scheme at the museum. Designed by Lee Prince, Managing Director of L+DA (Light and Design Associates), the scheme provides excellent functionality while adding atmosphere and mood to the museum galleries and surroundings.

Collectively known as the ‘Galleries of Modern London’ the collection comprises three period galleries, Expanding City; Peoples City; World City; all of which tell the story of London from 1666 to present times.

L+DA had many challenges, not least the fact that the new lighting design needed to be completed before the exhibition content was actually finalised. Specifying the Helvar  lighting control early in the project gave Lee Prince a foundation on which to design the scheme.

The galleries are predominantly lit by track and spotlight – a practical and effective solution. A prime consideration was the conservation criteria that had to be taken into account during the design process. To this end the practice worked closely with conservators and curators to meet guidelines for light levels and UV radiation, as well as develop unique lighting profiles for each case or open display object based upon lux/hours exposure. This innovative approach permitted darker objects (such as some of the costume displays) to be lit with higher than usual lux values for small periods of time giving added drama to the cases and an enhanced visitor experience.

The Expanding City gallery has a ‘total immersion experience’ pleasure garden, whose media content is conceptually driven by the lighting design and the Imagine control system. A fifteen minute film tells the story of an evening visit to a Victorian pleasure garden and the lighting design creates the long shadows of evening as the sun sets as well as the colours of sunset on the trees. The effect is carried around 180 degrees passing light through the trees, by programmed moving head projectors. The scene then changes to moonlight dappling its way into the space. This part of the performance is lit by a firework display and original Victorian tea lights hung through the tree branches. These original glass lanterns are from the museum collection and have been adapted for use with glowing LEDs. The finale is a combination of moonlight and a star lit sky consisting of 4000 stars.

Lighting control for the Expanding City gallery is provided by a Helvar 900 Router with two Imagine racks. The Router’s DMX input and AV interface ensure that the lighting elements and AV work together seamlessly. The system also controls the directional lighting that highlights selected costumes and objects. The Imagine system softly raises and focuses on the objects whilst the rest of the case is lit to very subdued levels. After a timed period, lights are fade to low levels and a different group of mannequins and objects are slowly highlighted.

The Peoples City gallery uses dynamic programmed displays and a Helvar 900 Router controls moving head spotlights to pick out objects of particular importance over a timed sequence. L+DA has internally lit the glass panels of the art deco Selfridges lift to effect a warm glowing beacon to the gallery. The War corridor has linear slits of indirect LED panels in the ceiling to add to the starkness of the blitz story, this builds to the dramatic lighting of the suspended Second World War bomb.

The Lord Mayor's coach, which is the centerpiece of the World City is one of the museum's most memorable exhibits. Built at a cost of £860 in 1757, it was first used in the Lord Mayor of London's Show in 1757 and is still used once a year for a parade through the streets of the City of London. The space is lit with a mixture of warm tungsten halogen and intense red-filtered light to emphasise the richness of the coach paintwork. The coach provides an arresting sight for passers by in the street and gives the museum street presence, a new, much-welcomed development.

The project was completed over three separate phases with the lighting control system being installed over 5 years. LD+A have designed a comprehensive site wide remote monitoring and device management system to provide ongoing support for the site. The installation has been well received by museum, corporate visitors and public alike.

BOX
Alongside the main museum is the London Bar and Wall Kitchen which also features a Helvar Imagine system. Located in the Barbican, beside the Museum of London, the restaurant and bar offers a traditional British all day dining menu. Designed by Ben Stephens L+DA the lighting control system creates atmosphere throughout the day and evening.

The restaurant has a high ceiling and suspended pendant fittings have been installed to create a warmer, more intimate atmosphere. There are four main lighting scenes with the luminaires operating at 70% during the day, dropping to 40% during the evening to create a background for evening dining.  The scheme has been submitted for the FX Design Awards.

Credits
Lighting Designer
Lee Prince at Light + Design Associates
Associates who worked in a lighting design capacity on the scheme:
Torunn Saksvikronning; Ben Stephens; Elga Niemann all at Light + Design Associates
Major Scheme Associates:
Museum of London in House Design Team and in particular;
Gail Symington, Eleonora Rosatone, Aaron Jones
Construction Managers: Fraser Randell,
Electrical Contractor; Reed Engineering Ltd
Photographic Credits:
Lynn Sammonds at Light + Design Associates

HELVAR KITLIST
Zone 1 – Expanding City
1 x 900 router with DMX input from AV Replay unit
2 x 26 Channel Imagine rack fitted with various dimmers for various load types
2 x 14 Channel Imagine rack fitted with various dimmers for various load types
3 x push button panel
4 x slider control panel

Zone 2 – People’s City
1 x 900 router with DMX input from Mini Cinema AV system
2 x 26 Channel Imagine rack fitted with various dimmers for various load types
1 x 14 Channel Imagine rack fitted with various dimmers for various load types
3 x push button panel

Zone 3 – World City
1 x 900 router
2 x 26 Channel Imagine rack fitted with various dimmers for various load types
1 x push button panel

London Bar and Wall Restaurant
1 x 900 router
1 x 26 Channel Imagine rack fitted with various dimmers for various load types
1 x 14 Channel Imagine rack fitted with various dimmers for various load types
2 x push button panels.

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