The week that was 18-22 April 2016

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The week that was 18-22 April 2016

Singapore – Perth, Weekend 23/24 April 2016

Finally a week in Perth with the weather down under slowly moving to autumn. Day temperatures are still lovely in their twenties during the day, beaches still very worth of a visit, but night times cool down quickly…the sunsets remain as magical as ever… I had a “royal” week with a visit to His Majesty and a visit to The Palace…

His Majesty’s
A project I have been reporting about for years (since 2012!) is finally moving into its final stages with installation started and a big media launch scheduled sometimes towards July. His Majesty’s Theatre (HMT) in Perth is a 110 year old theatre venue where some of the greatest actors like Geoffrey Rush, Kathrine Hepburn, Sir John Gilgud, Yehudi Mehunin and Margot Fonteyn amongst others have performed. The building, by all accounts one of the oldest theatres in Australia, is an architectural icon in Perth and validating its architecture and ornamental features at night has been on the to-do list for years, but for some reason bureaucracy and budget priorities prevent it from happening. About 5 years ago the city’s Heritage Perth organisation got a state grant to apply to heritage buildings in the city and HMT was back on the radar. I was asked to develop a lighting concept which was received with great enthusiasm. Then followed literally “years” of tossing and turning the concept and execution to be within budget, operational safety and security standards, heritage restrictions and possible implementation schedules all spiced up with city and state bureaucracy…a great recipe for “success” J. But we are finally there. The final budget was approved late last year, the implementation procedures agreed and the installation contractor appointed. All light fittings have been delivered to site and this time I went through all lighting positions with the contractor so that cabling works can be undertaken to the exact positions of the lights to minimise any possible damage to the heritage building fabric. This test and review was initiated by the contractor (!) and I have to say kudos to him for understanding the critical nature of (façade) lighting and wanting to make sure he got it right! Not many contractors take this level of pride in their work. He was all prepared with prewired fixtures when we showed up making the final confirmation of the lighting positions through visual mocking up a fast and efficient affair. Can’t wait for the project to finally come to light after more than 5 year in the making!

The Palace
The other “royal” project I had to attend to this week was the Palace Hotel, another historic building from the glory gold rush days that was recently renovated and restored. While it was a hotel formerly as its name indicates, it has had several other uses over the years, lastly as an office space for Bank West. Attached to the heritage building is what is known as the Bank West Tower a near 200m high building. Bank West has meanwhile moved to other premises and the new owners (a mining conglomerate) have plans to develop the heritage building as a social hub. However so far no operators have been found and the building is still in process of being finished. Because of the heritage restrictions the interior lighting was confined to the re-use existing lighting point but reconditioned to modern (LED) technology. There had been some concerns about the lighting levels on the old heritage stairs leading up to the first floor and therefore we decide to audit the installation on the lighting performance. Australian Standards indicate that lighting levels between 40 to 80 lux should be achieved as a minimum average depending on the application. The standards to indicate that in hospitality, restaurant or bar environments, lighting levels can be a bit lower due to the nature of the spaces. Initial readings on an earlier visit had indicated levels below 20 lux, but that was with some scaffolding and building materials partly obstructing the light. With the space now mostly cleaned up and free of obstructions it felt much brighter and we measured levels from 20 to 50 lux in the most critical areas. With these results we felt comfortable to advise the client that until the final usage of the spaces was confirmed the lighting was performing as desired. We did review and suggest options for lighting level improvement should this be necessary in the future, but for now we left the Palace with the recommendation that all was fine for now and the satisfaction that we had done a good job…

Have a great weekend.