Bonnybridge boat lift
SSUK 2005 Lighting Images at base of page & one below
The World's only rotating boatlift, used to connect the Forth & Clyde
and
Union canals, operated by British Waterways, designed by Tony Kettle of
RMJM.
Extension to the Falkirk Wheel visitor centre completed by RMJM Glasgow
in 2003:
Building Photo by Andrew Lee
Falkirk Wheel: Description
RMJM's Falkirk Wheel is a 35m high rotating boat lift, the world's
first.
Photo Adrian Welch
The Wheel is located at Bonnybridge close to Falkirk and forms the focus
for the £84.5m Millennium Link project reconnecting the Forth & Clyde
and Union canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh and coast-to-coast across
Scotland.
The Falkirk Wheel was opened in May 2002. RMJM worked with Ove Arup
Consultants and Butterley Engineering for Client British Waterways. Adjacent
to the Falkirk Wheel is a £4m visitor centre also by RMJM. The £17m project
includes additional canal plus canal basin, two aqueducts, three locks,
a railway bridge and a tunnel.
Photo Adrian Welch
The Millennium Link
The Waterways Trust Scotland arranged planting of five thousand trees
on a new section of towpath at the site of The Falkirk Wheel. The aqueduct
leading from the Union Canal to The Falkirk Wheel uses a 145m long tunnel
under the Roman period Antonine Wall.
Falkirk Wheel Exhibition and Visitor Centre opening times soon
Scottish Design Awards PR 2003 Category 38: Most Original Piece
of Work
Company: RMJM Ltd.
Title: Falkirk Wheel & Visitor Centre
Photo Adrian Welch
News Excerpt re the Falkirk Wheel:
Falkirk Wheel at the RIAS
4 - 28 Jun
RIAS Gallery, 15 Rutland Sqaure, Edinburgh
Falkirk Wheel Exhibition Curated by Tony Kettle of RMJM:
"An exhibition by leading Edinburgh-based architects RMJM charting
the progress of the Falkirk Wheel is being held this month".
Glasgow Architecture Tours
Lighting PR Jul 2005 - all photos + text by SSUK, Scotland:
Studio Due architectural fixtures and Robe moving lights and control were
specified and installed by Glasgow-based SSUK in a new permanent lighting
installation at the Falkirk Wheel. The fixtures and control were supplied
by obe UK.
The unique and fabulous Falkirk Wheel, an iconic fusion of industrial
art and engineering innovation, is the world's first and only rotating
boat lift. It links two canals with water levels 115 ft apart, a feat
traditionally requiring 11 locks!
The Falkirk Wheel was designed by Scottish architects RMJM. It's the spectacular
centrepiece of the £84.5 million 'Millennium Link', the UK's largest
canal restoration project, developed by British Waterways to reconnect
the Union Canal with the Forth & Clyde Canal, re-establishing east-to-west
coast of Scotland access by water.
SSUK – Glasgow's leading lighting, sound and AV sales and rental
company
– was approached by British Waterways – and asked to some up
with an eye-catching and innovative scheme to light the Wheel, completed
in 2001. With the adjacent visitor centre also hired out for corporate
functions, it was realised that changing colours and the possibilities
of image projection onto the pale grey 1200 tonne steel structure would
be a big plus point to anyone using the venue for an event or special
occasion.
Phillip Martin, Mechanical and Electrical manager for British Waterways
approached SSUK's Scott Maitland, with the brief that he wanted the wheel
to become "Vibrant and alive" through illumination.
Maitland jumped at the chance of being involved with such a funky and
high profile project, "The structure is absolutely magnificent"
he says, "and I was hugely enthused about creating a lighting design
from the word 'go'".
He knew that Studio Due would fit the requirement – and the budget
- perfectly. After several on site tests, he specified 31 Mini City 150s
with shutters, two City Color 1800s and a City Beam 2.5K. "They were
the brightest and the best fixtures for the job" he affirms.
The City Beam blasts the front face of the Wheel and covers the largest
surface area, right up to the top. At each end of the wheel are two Mini
City's, and dead centre of the main section are the two City Color 1800s,
mounted in the well at the base of the structure.
A further two Mini City's are focussed up onto the curved aluminium panel
of the main wheelhouse, which contains the control for all the Wheel's
mechanics. Each side of the Wheel's four supporting columns there are
three Mini City's, attached to the concrete with customised brackets.
Each fixture is crossed over to light the inner side of the next column.
The spine of the wheel – a viaduct channel where boats at the top
water level enter and exit the Wheel – features five structural hoops.
With only a 12 Volt power supply available here, LED lighting was the
only option.
SSUK designed some waterproof 12 way RGB LED fixtures for this –
which will be come an off the shelf product for the company's soon to
be launched architectural division, LumiVision.
The LEDs and all the Studio Due kit is controlled by a Robe 1024 DMX lighting
desk. This was chosen by SSUK's installation team crew chief Duncan Turner.
Turner is a big fan of the desk, and thought it was ideal for this application
because it's quick and easy to programme, and is comprehensible to the
semi technical personnel at the Wheel Centre who will be operating it
most of the time.
The 1024 has dual DMX out – unusual for a board at that level. A
disk back-up is another useful feature from the programmer and installer's
viewpoint, and ensures the console is automatically backed up, making
fixing easier if there's a fault.
For inside the visitor's centre, SSUK supplied a selection of Robe Show
Lighting 250 and 575 moving heads. These are utilised for image and logo
projection onto the Wheel for special events, and also for creating colour
washes and atmosphere for functions taking place inside the visitor's
centre. These lights have a separate Robe 512 controller.
British Waterways are delighted with the illuminations which help enhance
the Falkirk Wheel's stature as the third most popular visitor attraction
in Scotland.
END
Alasdair Brewster advised this website on 11 April 2008 that it was he
who carried out the design along with SSUK. "Mr Martin, had no input
to selection,design, or installation of said scheme."
SSUK - Website: www.ssuk.co.uk
Lumivision Lighting - Website: www.lumivision.co.uk
Falkirk Wheel - Website: www.falkirk-wheel.com
Scottish
Architecture
Falkirk Wheel - Quiz
Police investigating the vandalism of the £17m Falkirk Wheel in Scotland
are appealing for further witnesses after interviewing several people.
09.05.02
Glasgow : back to index
A British Waterways project at the other (east) end of the Union Canal
in Edinburgh is Edinburgh
Quay
Useful Website re the Falkirk Wheel: www.britishwaterways.co.uk