Southgate – Bath

As a focal point within the public realm at SouthGate – Bath, A concept of a lantern, laser cut with names of landmarks and local people was created by landscape architects McGregor Smith and lighting designer TÜV SÜD.

With the idea of the lantern using light as the focus during the darker hours, Studiotech were brought in to develop a solution. 

The challenge was to find a single point LED light source.  This had to be powerful enough to cast distinct shadows of the text from within the structure of the lantern in the form of light and shadow throughout the public realm which could be easily read by passers-by. 

During the development process, Studiotech tried numerous luminaires but found that most of those sourced, although appearing to be single point, were made up of multiple LED chips, each creating individual shadows resulting in an ill-defined effect on the ground. 

Studiotech were tempted to use an ‘old-school’ metal halide lamp which worked perfectly, yet didn’t meet the energy efficiency required by the client.  This resulted in Studiotech making the decision to develop their own luminaire. 

The successful solution consisted of a high power cob LED on a heatsink within a bespoke housing unit.  Various combinations of cob and power supply were tried to find the best solution. The cob is encapsulated to protect it from the elements and the housing provides ventilation of the heatsink yet all light remains direct.  The developed luminaire results in the perfect shadows and light dancing around the public realm, available for all to read and enjoy.