London's most iconic bridges will have a connected lighting installation

This project, which has been launched by the Illuminated River Foundation, will have signify's Interact Landmark system and Philips Color Kinetics luminaires to carry it out.

Illuminated River Foundation has launched a project that aims to transform London with a lighting installation that will connect the 15 city bridges. Once completed, which is planned for the year 2022, will represent the longest public art exhibition, with 2,5 miles in length along 4,5 nautical miles of the River Thames.

The American Artist Leo Villareal, responsible for the lighting of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, next to the architects' studio Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, will be in charge of carrying out this project.

Villareal's vision is based on using the most innovative Led technology to 'paint with light', influencing the natural activity of the river and producing sequences that play with the bridge structures.

Your lighting design will interact specifically with the area of each bridge, respecting and revealing its distinctive histories and architectural features, while the integrated movement across fifteen bridges will create a unified work of art that references the river as a system of continuous life.

For its part, Signify will be the company responsible for providing the technology to illuminate these iconic 15 London Bridges. In this way, the project will feature the Interact Landmark system and Philips Color Kinetics luminaires to achieve artistic and dynamic lighting effects through its central management software. In addition, provide lifecycle services to remotely monitor and manage the illumination of connected bridges over the next few years 10 years.

"London's bridges are famous all over the world but have been overlooked when it comes to taking them into account and developing their potential to transform our city at night.. What we're doing now, in partnership with Signify, to transform the bridges and the river bank, is innovative. For the first time, we are using dynamic and energy efficient Led lighting in up to 15 London Bridges, with Signify's Interact Landmark system, to create public art on the largest scale ever seen”, comments Sarah Gaventa, director of the Iluminated River Foundation.

This is the first time a holistic strategy has been put in place to illuminate all bridges in central London.. The goal is to create a visual experience that can be seen from different levels., that pedestrians can enjoy the show from the banks of the river, from the air, from tall buildings or by boat.

Signify has been chosen to participate in this project for its lighting expertise and ability to carry out a large-scale lighting connectivity project. A key factor was the experience of this company in working with lighting designers and architects in the management of dynamic and architectural lighting scenes..

"Light is one of the most powerful means of breathing new life into major cities and metropolitan areas., heralding a new era of urban design and beautification. We've lit bridges all over the world and we've seen, first-hand, the positive impact that architectural and dynamic lighting has on the transformation of local communities and economies", says Maria-Letizia Mariani, President of Europe and Senior Vice President of Signify.

The first phase, which has just begun and is expected to be completed in the middle of 2019, includes lighting of four bridges (London Bridge, Canon Street Railway Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Millennium Bridge) with Philips Color Kinetics LED luminaires.

Signify's Interact Landmark system will remotely monitor and manage lighting on all four bridges. For the first time, Cannon Street Rail Bridge will be illuminated, as well as the top and bottom of the other three. This will allow for much more extensive three-dimensional lighting effects that will enhance the areas around them and facilitate security..

Keys to the Illuminated River project in London:

• The Illuminated Rivers project will be the world's longest public art commission once completed, with 2,5 miles in length along 4,5 nautical miles of the River Thames. Signify's Interact Landmark system will centrally manage the new connected lighting for this artwork.
• More than 22.000 Connected Led light points Philips Color Kinetics , able to show more than 16 millions of colors, with which dynamic lighting effects will be created up to 15 London Bridges: London, Southwark, Cannon Street, Millennium, Blackfriars Railway, Golden Jubilee, Waterloo, Blackfriars, Lambeth, Vauxhall, Westminster, Grosvenor, Chelsea, Albert and the Two Towers.
• London Bridge is a tourist favourite. It has heated pavements designed to prevent ice during cold seasons.
• Millennium Bridge is London's first new pedestrian bridge for over a century and was conceived as a 'sheet of light' across the Thames., linking St Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre on the south bank. Together with Foster & Partners, the designer of Millennium Bridge, Signify will dynamically illuminate the bottom of the bridge for the first time, creating an additional light to show the glow of light across the river.
• Every year these 15 bridges are crossed a few 200 millions of times.

As it is connected lighting, is to be monitored remotely by Interact Landmark. The software will detect and manage faults and perform remote diagnostics and maintenance, improving asset management and thus reducing costs. In the 15 Bridges, there will be more than 13.000 luminaires that will be controlled individually or centrally to create dynamic and unique scenes.

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