The busy pedestrian underpass at Wembley Park, Bobby Moore Bridge, has been renovated with artistic LED displays of softly glowing light.
Dixon Jones Architects were responsible for the initial concept of the bridge’s redesign, with Speirs + Major designing the lighting, including commissioned light art by studio miriamandtom. The Light Lab were responsible for full management, fabrication and installation. The Light Lab also assisted in the bespoke design, with a specialist team working on the fittings and glazing.
Edward Jones from Dixon Jones Architects describes how their design concept was to transform Bobby Moore Bridge from a neglected and routine piece of civil engineering into a “glittering Proscenium leading to the wonders of Wembley.”
The previous design of the bridge included a much beloved tile mural celebrating Wembley stadium’s highlights, dedicated to football legend Bobby Moore. The new design has huge light panels which will host commissioned light installations from artists. Some of the heritage tiles were carefully renovated and a portion of the mural – along with the plaque dedicating the bridge – is now framed and illuminated in the centre of the east wall of the underpass to honour its history.
The walls and archway have been transformed with stunning new LED arrays, connected visually overhead by Light Lab’s glowline and linear LEDs recessed in the ceiling to provide safe, ambient lighting to the underpass at all times. Each wall has individually controlled multi-LED pixels stacked behind acid etched, toughened, laminated glass. This protection is essential, as the underpass can get very crowded post-match as fans pour down from the stadium and queue to get into the station.
The first of the artistic installations that will play in the underpass is called “Crossover”, by architectural design collective miriamandtom. Designed to reflect the spirit of Wembley, the colours used in the lighting design are all taken from the surrounding area. Bands of colour are set at an angle to contrast with the straight lines of the underpass, and transition softly to maintain a welcoming, calming ambience as people make their way to or from the station.
The installation is controlled by a 100-universe version of the versatile Pharos LPC X which can handle the high channel count whilst also independently controlling output to each wall, arch and ceiling for complete artistic flexibility. The LPC X has the DVI in option to allow the installation to mirror on the lighting fixtures the video content playing on screens around the facility. When new designers are commissioned to create new installations, these can easily be uploaded to the controller, keeping the site current and colourful.
The project uses SixEye remote management for the Pharos controller, via Architainment’s system integrator portal, enabling site managers to easily and securely manage the installation from any internet connected device anywhere, anytime, as well as providing granular permissions to users.
