Two years ago Christian Schraml and Andreas Hierzer, Directors of Xenon Architectural Lighting were attending ARC06 hoping to find a control solution for a new range of fixtures they were developing. Two minutes into the demo for the Lighting Playback Controller by Pharos, Schraml pulled out his wallet and handed over a credit card insisting he had heard enough and this was exactly what he was looking for. Pharos would like to profile some of XAL’s projects using Pharos controllers to celebrate the two years since they became their customer at ARC.
Based in Austria, XAL have a huge established market, primarily in sophisticated, stylish fittings for high-end architectural applications. In 2005 they started developing DMX-controlled RGB and single colour architectural LED fixtures for the first time, but did not want to be sidetracked by also developing a bespoke controller.
Pharos specialises in lighting control, audio-video control and show control solutions, and as a business model exclusively focus on control alone. As Commercial Director Chris Hunt explains, “Offering only control solutions in this market gives us a unique opportunity to work with all fixture manufacturers; non-competing and maintaining excellent relationships and partnerships with players big and small. Each LED fixture manufacturer who might have their own control system recognises its limitations, and for a growing number of them, such as XAL, Pharos is the alternative of choice for their more complex or demanding control projects.”
Grupa Lotos SA Headquarters
XAL have found plenty of uses for Pharos since launching their STILA, LECU, and SOLIS ranges of both DMX and DALI controlled LED fixtures. The headquarters of the Polish Grupa Lotos SA is an impressive landmark project in XAL’s history. The building sparkles in the light of 623 STILA LED RGB wallwashers. These are controlled by four networked Pharos LPC2s, being one of the few architectural control solutions on the market capable of controlling such a large amount of DMX addresses. The controllers offer the option of treating the façade as a media display by simply integrating any kind of animated data into the illumination sequences. Located next to one of the busiest roads of Gdansk in the north of Poland, it gives the city a new landmark, and acts as a sign for Lotos’ constant expansion.
Steiermärkische Bank
The Headquarters of Steiermärkische Bank in the centre of XAL’s hometown of Graz wasn’t anything special until this banking corporation decided on a complete makeover including adding colour to the exterior. This was done using a special version of the STILA RGB luminaire, which is mounted in a way that the light beam focuses exactly on the edge of the glass panels. Using the Pharos LPC2 enables the bank to show their company colours moving dynamically around the building, and makes it easy to change the lighting effects for special events. Now, the Steiermärkische Building is not, “just a building”, but a new, eye catching architectural feature in the centre of Graz.
XAL Headquarters
When XAL presented its 07 catalogue and brand new showroom last year in May, they invited more than 300 customers, architects and lighting designers from all over the world. All the colour changing LED fittings in their showroom are controlled by Pharos products – so that customers can concentrate on the exhibited products during the day, while at night the LEDs provide coloured lighting that draws the attention to the building. For company events such as the catalogue launch, the space can turn into a vibrant party place, by simply adding some music and more “flashy” lighting – again, all thanks to the Pharos controllers.
Florian Schaubach was in charge of project management for the Lotos project and is now taking over a new XAL office in London. He says about working with Pharos: “I loved working with the LPC and the Pharos Designer software from the very first moment I had my hands on them. It gives a lighting designer enormous creative freedom, making the design process easy and intuitive.” He adds: “Furthermore, from a sales perspective, the Pharos designer software is even more: it serves as a powerful tool for impressive presentations, and has immensely helped XAL to win large-scale LED projects.”
XAL is continuing to work on one of those large-scale projects, including one of the first installations to use the new Pharos LPC X – a big brother to the LPCs, managing systems of twenty to two hundred universes of DMX. The LPC X simultaneously outputs control data to ArtNetII, ETCNet2, Pathport, Streaming ACN, as well as KiNet from Color Kinetics and even DVI. This underlines once more that Pharos controllers interface with control protocols from many different manufacturers, making Pharos the all-in-one control solution across the board.
Chris Hunt concludes, “We have been thrilled with the business XAL have brought to Pharos. They are certainly one of our best customers and we are glad of this opportunity to acknowledge their contribution to the success of the Pharos controllers.”
