Six columns, countless possibilities At the heart of the new scheme are six bespoke 12-metre feature columns positioned around the main square.
Their arrangement takes up minimal space while providing the required lighting across the Market Place, with particular attention paid to the large central area used for events.
Mounted across the six columns are 31 Thorn CONTRAST RGBW floodlights. Their combination of high output, optical control and colour capability allows the same infrastructure to support everything from the everyday 3000K scene to dynamic event lighting.
Each column also incorporates interchangeable GOBO projector brackets and waterproof power sockets for festoon lighting. Potential additional loads were factored into the columns’ torsional calculations from the outset, providing safe, adaptable infrastructure for future events.
Designed by Thorn and manufactured by Fabrikat, the columns and associated steelwork incorporate custom brackets, carefully selected paint finishes and Bishop Auckland’ s distinctive Bishop’ s Mitre emblem, creating contemporary infrastructure with a strong connection to its setting.
Control without digging up the square Delivering that level of control presented another challenge.
The DMX player is located on the balcony of Bishop Auckland Town Hall, with control cabling
LIGHTING
connecting the architectural lighting around the building and neighbouring church. Extending conventional DMX cabling from there to the RGBW luminaires and GOBO projectors across the Market Place would have required a very different intervention.
The route would have crossed a main traffic road before continuing between each of the six feature columns and along the side road towards the War Memorial. Thorn estimates that this would have required more than 300 metres of trenching through established stone paving, followed by reinstatement.
Instead, wireless DMX was used to communicate with the lighting and GOBO projectors across the square. Existing underground cable duct and power supplies were also retained,
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