The week that was 19-23 October
Singapore- Bali, weekend 24-25th October 2015
Monday 19th October, Istanbul – Wrapping up
One last wrap up meeting with the team before flying back to Singapore. It has been a very intense couple of days in which we covered a lot of ground. Personally I relish these kind of workshops as we get to literally design face to face and in tandem with the lead designers of each team, decisions are made on the spot (no such thing as: “let me check with the boss”) as we are all here. In these few days we had several workshops on various areas still outstanding in terms of final design…as we wrap up the meetings we set out a time table for the follow up required from each of the teams…I have a satisfied feeling of having achieved a lot. Not only that…I also took time out on two of the nights to actually walk the site to experience it with practically no lights yet installed. As we have taken over the job from a previous lighting designer we have inherited parts of the previous design, including some hideous outdoor pathway bollards which had been installed along a section of the landscape. Many lighting designers may not take the opportunity to walk a site at night before actually starting the design but to me if possible it is an opportunity not to be missed. It provides you with the pure night time environment before the development is started or completed. In this particular case it showed us that even a 45min boat ride away from mainland there is still a lot of environmental spill light (call it light pollution if you want!) allowing you to walk around on the site at night without even needing a torch! It was surprising to all to discover how much light there still was late at night. Against that back drop, it was clear that the little pathway lighting section that had already been installed was way too much! Below some night time impressions from Istanbul our night time boat ride and actual site.
Tuesday 20th October, Istanbul- Singapore – Water submersion and drain tests
After an overnight flight back from Istanbul I arrive in the early hours of the morning back in Singapore…I take some additional hours sleep on arrival, but find myself back in the office in the afternoon to catch up with the team and discuss the follow required to my Istanbul trip. Despite the time difference I feel reasonably well (the few extra hours sleep helped) and I am keeping up well. The few days I have in the office this week will be usurped rapidly by project meetings and preparations for my other travels ahead.
As I work through my emails I come across a video sent from one of our project sites where the contractor had been requested by our team to do the water test on in-ground luminaires to make sure the water drains away properly after a water submersion like the ones that can be caused by a heavy down pour. The 30min test should allow us to see that water drains away properly and that lights have been properly installed, protected and still working after the submersion. The test can be carried out a few times. In our case it seemed to be ok thought the drain-time was on the slow side. It is a test often overlooked on installation but one that should be done always to assure that it has been properly installed…it is not something you want to discover when the installation is completed!
Wednesday 21st October, Singapore – Hoops and bounds
Most of the time we respond to RFP’s with straight forward proposals, but sometimes the client (generally big multi corporations or government authorities) have centimetre thick sub mission documents that you need to go through full of terms and conditions and request the shirt of your body in terms of submission details. Coincidently we have 3 of these projects we need to respond to this week with one of the submission requirements document nearly 400 pages to read through…@#$%! The long and short of these documents is that they want you to commit your life at a fixed lump sum fee with no escape to any additional or extra costs. For a project that is likely to take 3-5 years with another minimum 12 months defect and liability commitment, it is a long time. Most of the time there is no fixed time schedule making the commitment even more difficult. Not only that…they also want to know everything about you what there is to know, your bank account, your share holder ship, your profit and loss statements, etc. while I can understand that for lead contractors that take on multi-million dollar contracts, but for small scale practices like ours this seems totally over the top and irrelevant. Important is that we have a proper business licence and registration with local tax authorities, that we are a solvent company with the manpower capacity to take on the job (obviously with the relevant experience and track record) and a professional indemnity insurance to cover for eventualities. In one of the submissions they even require us to commit and break down the hours and manpower per area and scope of work…of course at this early stage we don’t know and the problem is that once we put this in black and white they will hold us to it!…Very tricky…here is just page 1 of 3 of the contents only (modified and adapted for confidentiality reasons)…!
Thursday 22nd October, Jakarta – Inter disciplinary coordination
Today I am in Jakarta for the day to coordinate our lighting design coordination with the clients implementation team. Representatives from the various disciplines are all in attendance to hear our latest update and coordinate our requirements with their own needs. I am the lead consultant for lighting but as we are integrating the full stage lighting and infra-structure design as part of our scope for this multidisciplinary venue this coordination meeting is critical. We are targeting for the venue to be completed for the Miss Indonesia pageant next year February, so the time schedule is tight. Luckily there is a plan B in place in case we are not able to complete the project in time. There are so many unknowns still to be consolidated that it would be foolish to commit to completing this in time. In December we will take stock of our progress and if it looks like we can achieve it we will go for it if not there is an alternative venue available…at the end of the day we are all aligned and in consensus about what we want in terms of the lighting…what rest is the final presentation to the “big boss” and sign off on the budget for our design specifications!
During our lunch break we drop in on one of the live talent shows being recorded and broadcast as we visit. I always relish these opportunities as it shows us our client in action and the standards that they are used to work with. Good benchmark for us to improve on…
Friday 23rd October, Singapore – Wireless lighting technology
Today I had invited one of the leading companies in Singapore, providing wireless lighting solutions, Partex-Airstar. Besides their illuminated balloon business, one of the key products are rechargeable lights, some with over 12 hours continuous operation, with wireless controls. It is an increasingly popular technology that is finding more and more application specifically in the outdoor areas. While initially designed for events and functions these products are now finding their way in more permanent architectural applications and we are currently considering the use f some in our projects, hence the invitation to present the latest to our team today. The interesting part is that the lights are magnetic, in other words they can be clipped on to a metal base, being a building structure or other and because there are no wires there is ultimate flexibility. The controls are done through dedicated frequency controllers or through downloadable mobile phone apps. All lights are IP rated for outdoor use. The challenge now is to move from temporary event installations to permanent architectural installations. I am keen to see how that will develop. It is not difficult to see that the combination with renewable energy could loud a new area in outdoor façade and other (outdoor) lighting applications such as illuminated furniture!
Next week PLDC in Rome! I will report about that next weekend…but first a quick stop in Bali tomorrow and Monday for a project site review…
Have a great weekend ahead.
The week that was
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