Located in the Berkshire town of Slough is the site of the former Horlicks factory, famed for manufacturing the malted milk drink. The factory closed in 2018 after 110 years of producing the much-loved beverage and has since been renovated by Berkeley Homes into a modern residential neighbourhood.
A key part of the site, due to its iconic status, is the factory’s 46-metre-tall chimney. As one of the only remaining original features of the former factory, it was important to keep it in-situ as a homage to the location’s previous purpose. It was decided to dynamically illuminate the chimney, as a focal beacon of light among the local community.
Light Bureau, the lighting design practice leading the project, specified a lighting control solution from Pharos Architectural Controls to bring to life fixtures from leading lighting manufacturer Tryka. Light Bureau selected a Pharos Designer TPC (Touch Panel Controller) at the heart of the dynamic lighting control solution. The Designer TPC is an award-winning, elegant touch screen controller with a customisable 4.3” capacitive touch panel. It offers sleek styling and an advanced lighting control playback engine.
The Designer TPC allows ease of mapping and visualisation, offering real-time changes whilst programming for incremental adjustment of scenes. Pharos set up a simple user interface allowing the Berkeley Homes site and marketing teams to easily make changes to the lighting via the Designer TPC.
The dynamic, colour changing lighting has been programmed to celebrate national days such as a Christmas red and green fade, and to honour the Ukrainian flag. The chimney is visible from commuter trains heading into London, so Berkeley Homes have also been able to use the lighting for marketing and PR opportunities to showcase their brand colours.
The chimney needed to be lit evenly from one single base position, but due to its height, standard grazing from a linear fixture could not achieve this. Tryka came up with an innovative workaround, stacking two rows of their Stripline 69 high output linear solution in tandem. By using two different beam patterns, the chimney is evenly illuminated from top to bottom.
Ryan Sainsbury, Regional Sales Manager for the UK at Pharos Architectural Controls, commented: “Horlicks is a much-loved British brand and as the chimney is such an iconic part of the site, the lighting needed to make a statement. The innovative approach by Tryka, coupled with the dynamic controllability offered by our Designer TPC is a fantastic collaboration.
“Providing Berkeley Homes with the ability to control their lighting allows them to set programmed colours and displays to celebrate special occasions, national holidays, and showcase their own branding in a unique way. We were honoured to be a part of this iconic project. The chimney is so embedded in Slough’s history and the dynamic lighting has truly brought it back to life, showcasing its history and brand to residents and commuters.”
The Horlicks chimney now stands proud in the local community; a shining beacon of light honouring the rich history of the site for many years to come.
Project Credits:
Photography: Huw Evans Photography
Client: Berkeley Homes
Lighting Design: Light Bureau
Lighting Control: Pharos Architectural Controls
Lighting fixture manufacturers: Tryka
Control system commissioning: Elite Control Services
