KING ABDULAZIZ CENTRE
FOR WORLD CULTURE
A LIGHTING PROJECT LIKE NO OTHER
In the city of Dhahran, a vast array of curious forms shaped
like pebbles rises out of the desert. This is Saudi Arabia’s
new Cultural Centre. This impressive facility was designed by
Norwegian Architectural firm Snøhetta on behalf of Saudi’s
Aramco Oil Company, to help promote cultural development,
performing arts and learning within the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. Set to become a national and global landmark, the site
contains an auditorium, cinema, library, exhibition hall, museum,
and archive within its 100,000 square metres.
Aramco, working with Filmmaster, approached lighting designers
Magic Monkey and project managers Netherled, who proposed
an installation of more than 150 Pulsar Luxeos 36 VC flood
lights. The Luxeos units were chosen as one of the only products
durable enough to survive in the scorching heat and dust of the
desert, and due to the product’s best-in-class light quality.
Netherled’s installation uses a control system as impressive as
the light fixtures themselves. All the lights can be controlled
individually, and the standard programs can be overridden for
special events. Over such a large area, the control of individual
luminaires produces some unique and stunning results. Pulsar’s
Luxeos 36 flood lights have on board RDM (remote device
management) software, and the customer is using this to gather
and monitor data about the performance and lifetime of the
fixtures.
The layout of the site posed some challenges, as all the
luminaires had to be situated on the ground rather than attached
to the building. Even with some of the light fixtures situated as
far away as 160 metres from the building itself and others right
next to the façade, Pulsar’s HBS (Holographic Beam Shaping)
technology made it possible to get a uniform spread of light. HBS
technology uses thin sheets of highly efficient diffuser materials
to shape the light beams, which meant each light fixture could
produce the exact spread of light needed.
The lights were further customised, with each finished in an
oyster white colour to help them blend in with the surroundings
and look discreet in the day time. Some of the lights are installed
close to pedestrian areas and roads, so the customer chose to
use louvres to prevent glare. The louvres were also finished in
the same oyster white colour to match the light fixtures.