DESIGN / CONSERVATION LIGHTING
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Pic: Allan Toft HAPPY FEET
You wait all your career to pick up a penguin story and then three come along at once... Here’s some stories from Australia, Denmark and Chile to warm the cockles of your heart.
“Can you light up our penguins?” This is not the type of question a lighting designer often gets! However, when the lighting design is a life support system rather than just visual display and provides the ability for the birds to live in captivity, and most importantly, breed it is a chance for the designer to make a real difference. The changing length of the days and light intensity of the seasons have a great influ- ence on a wide range of biological processes in penguins, including feeding, moulting and breeding, and this is where colour changing and colour temperature plays a vital role.
PENGUIN BAY, LEGOLAND, BILLUND, DENMARK
In order to simulate the unique light of the southern latitudes of the Falkland Islands for a colony of Gentoo penguins at LEGO- LAND Parks’ recently opened Penguin Bay exhibit in Billund, Denmark, it was extreme- ly important to choose the right lighting fixtures. The world famous amusement park consequently turned to the dynamic and customisable characteristics of Martin Professional’s Exterior 410 and Exterior 100
luminaires. Penguin Bay, which opened in May 2012, is a 156 square meter natural area with boul- ders, a rocky beach and cold water where penguins have plenty of room to romp. “You can do a lot with themes - water, snow, ice, etc.,” states LEGOLAND exhibi- tion manager and biologist Lars Nørholm Jensen, “but if the light is set incorrectly or is the wrong colour, you can never achieve an optimal result. At the same time, we had to create an installation that had windows from a roller coaster tunnel, a restaurant and an outdoor but covered amphitheatre; all in all a difficult cocktail in which to cre- ate the right light environment.” It was crucial for the wellbeing of the penguins to obtain a faithful reproduction of the natural Antarctic light in all seasons. Sunrise and sunset in Denmark for example does not follow the same rhythm as that of the Falkland Islands, sunlight has dif- ferent tones in summer and winter, and a large, beautiful moon often hangs over the islands. Martin’s Director of Strategic Projects, Morten Gjøtz, comments, “We helped iden-
tify the ideal lighting for the environment in collaboration with the biologist, who is responsible for animal welfare. As the ex- hibit is both wet and cold at a constant 6-10 degrees Celsius, it places heavy demands on both authenticity and durability. Visitors also get a very positive experience as they are able to follow the penguins’ movements both above and below water, which places unique demands on the lighting.” At a workshop at Martin’s headquarter facil- ity in Aarhus, Denmark, Lars got a first-hand opportunity to test various configurations and types of lamps, and the choice fell quickly to the Exterior 410, which fully met the criteria. The Exterior 100 was also chosen for underwater illumination of the exhibit’s submerged ice formations. “The Exterior 410 with associated software has enabled us, in collaboration with Martin Professional staff, to render a lighting scheme that comes very close to what the penguins would experience in nature,” Jensen states, adding, “We have also man- aged to create the seasonal variations that are so important for them. Our penguin colony thrives at the facility and the many
Penguin Bay at LEGOLAND in Billund, Denmark is a faithful reproduction of Antarctic light conditions in the Falklands Islands using Martin Professional luminaires.
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