Royal Liver Building

Lighting historical buildings is multilayered. The cultural relevance and age of a building grouped with municipal concerns and public opinion greatly impact a lighting design and the luminaires used. When approaching the lighting design of the Royal Liver Building - a circa 1900, Grade-I-listed building in Liverpool, England - Arup, had their work cut out for them.

Having lit a multitude of historic and iconic structures meant that Arup's experience put them in the expert's seat, a role they filled to a "T." Working closely with the building managers, CBRE, and Lumenpulse lighting distributors LITE, Arup devised a dynamic lighting design that has renewed civic pride and appreciation of this vital structure. "The new lighting experience is a vital part of the repositioning of the building. We hope that it will bring joy to visitors to the city, serving as a location to meet, enhancing the waterfront, and promoting the Royal Liver Building and Pier Head as a desirable destination to work and visit," explained Simon Hepple, Director for the National Building Consultancy.

To meet all the variables of such an outstanding design, Arup choose Lumenpulse luminaires, "We compared many manufacturers for this project," said Lauren Blow, Senior Lighting Designer, Arup. "Lumenpulse came out on top due to their optics options, the long lifetime, the overall quality of the product and, in particular, the aesthetics. The Lumenfacade fixtures needed a slim profile as they had to blend with the structure as best as possible. Lumenpulse were the most streamlined products on the market."

The cabling for the nearly 400 Lumenpulse Lumenfacade, Color Changing RGBW, DMX-controlled luminaires, covering over 13 floors, were easily hidden to keep with the city's historic buildings ordinance. The medium distribution Lumenfacade luminaires were used to highlight the Royal Liver Building's key architectural features on all four of its facades, while the Narrow-beam distributions were used to showcase the cornices to create a dramatic effect. This allows visuals from not only the three land facing sides but also the facade overlooking the River Mersey. The human-scale views, as per pedestrians and vehicle traffic vantage points, was of utmost importance and one of the lighting design's focuses is the visual comfort of passersby.

The dynamic lighting shows are controlled by a Pharos LPC controller and are adjusted depending on the season, holiday, or event. The unveiling of the dynamic capabilities of the luminaires and the lighting design were showcased at Liverpool's River of Light festival. Arup's five-minute light show, known as "Flight" was shown every 30 minutes and was accompanied by music. Light shows are now permanently shown on the building favade and they have become a welcomed part of the Liverpool cityscape. Arup has also created tailored and intricate light shows in tribute of Remembrance Day and the Australian wildfires as well as grand autumn and Christmas displays, among many others.

EQUIPMENT SPECIFIED
100 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 1 ft, 10°x90°) 
4 x Lumenfacade Color Changing (RGBW, 1 ft, 10°x10°)
76 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 1 ft, 10°x10°) 
2 x Lumenfacade Color Changing (RGBW, 2ft, 30°x30°)
8 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 2ft, 10°x10°)
8 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 2ft, 10°x30°)
7 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 3ft, 10°x90°)
25 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 3ft, 10°x90°)
16 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 3ft, 10°x10°)
94 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 4ft, 10°x10°)
8 x Lumenfacade Interior Color Changing (RGBW, 4ft, 10°x10°)
8 x Lumenfacade Interior Color Changing (RGBW, 4ft, 10°x60°)
24 x Lumenfacade Horizontal Color Changing (RGBW, 4ft, 10°x60°)
4 x Lumenbeam XLarge Color Changing (RGBW, High Output, Wide Flood 60°)