Redefining Seafront Illuminations

As part of Southend-on-Sea's City Beach regeneration project the new 22 metre masts transform the seafront promenade into a vibrant and distinctive visitor attraction whilst truly modernising the perception of traditional seafront illuminations.

Working closely with Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and lighting consultants Pinniger & Partners as part of a scheme devised by the landscape architect team within Grontmij, this integrated streetscape project aims to encourage visitors to make more use of the town's beach.

The striking design comprises a twin blade pyramid manufactured from a mix of high grade galvanised steel, anodised and painted aluminium and stainless steel cladding to ensure that no aesthetic degradation occurs to the masts as a result of the harsh maritime environment.

The iconic masts were designed as 'art illuminations' to transform the Marine Parade area by extending tourist and resident dwell time from daytime to evening. During daylight the sheer scale and design of the masts enhance the view from the promenade. During hours of low light, the masts come alive.

The masts house innovative colour changing LEDs, coupled with a series of lighting projectors to achieve a dramatic effect during night time hours. A series of light shows will be played on a nightly basis, triggered by the internal astronomical clock of the lighting controller. The controller is also integrated with a Photocell that will be used to activate the ambient white lighting in the pedestrian areas.

Working with Architainment, the project was specified with a massive 180 strings of Philips Color Kinetics' iColor® Flex LMX using 30 strings per mast. This flexible strand of large, high-intensity, full-colour LEDs was designed to illuminate vast distances without the constraints of fixture size or shape. Each string consists of 50 individually addressable LEDs, each producing full-colour output. In total of 9000 total LED's had to be conceptually designed into the final mast, wired, configured and controlled. The six masts can either combine to make up one large low resolution video screen or individually display various visual effects via dynamic RGB. The masts form the pinnacle of collaborative product and lighting design in a technical and visionary urban landscape masterpiece. Drew Jones, Architect from Southend-on-Sea's Property and Regeneration Group, commented, "The Woodhouse team's knowledge was second to none and they provided an excellent technical presentation that met all of our needs."

Drew continued, "This was a large project for Southend Borough Council and prior to selecting Woodhouse, we conducted a considerable amount of design and engineering research.

The Project Manager was impressed by both the quality and design aesthetic of previous Woodhouse structures and was enthusiastic to work with them for such a prestigious scheme. These factors, teamed with Woodhouse's strong collaborative development team and their competitive bid were our reasons for selecting them as our partners for this project."