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Fox Theatre 2004 – 2010
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
LED lighting solutions from Philips Color Kinetics modernize Fox Theatre’s operations while helping to
preserve its character as a historical landmark.
ColorCast 14 LED lighting fixtures from Philips Color Kinetics, in daily use since 2004, enhance the Fox Theatre’s famous blue sky ceiling.
The historic Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, is a premiere venue for live entertainment. The 4,678-seat theatre is booked for more
than 300 performances each year, but the drama and spectacle begin
the moment patrons walk through the theatre’s ornate entryway.
The Fabulous Fox was built in the 1920s to resemble the courtyard
of a fantastic Arabian palace, complete with a trompe l’oeil ceiling
that simulates a starry, twilit sky across which clouds appear to slowly
drift.
To create the sky effect, the theatre’s vaulted ceiling was originally
painted ultramarine blue in 1929. Ninety-six 11-watt incandescent
lamps set in the ceiling, a third of which fl icker, create the impression of
stars. The drifting clouds are produced by a special projector, originally
a Brenograph magic lantern machine that could create various effects,
including sunrise, sunset, fire, snow, and rain.
In 2004, the theatre installed ColorCast 14 LED lighting fixtures
from Philips Color Kinetics to enhance the ceiling’s blue sky effect.
The fixtures, set to display blue light only, are installed on Unistrut
aluminum track positioned along the edge of the theatre’s turret
(between the castle-like walls). In 2009, the theatre installed 50
additional ColorCast 14 fixtures to cover a larger area of the ceiling.
Not only were the original fixtures still working after five years of
daily use, the new fixtures blended seamlessly with the originals—a
tribute to the superior color consistency and unprecedented lumen
maintenance of Philips Color Kinetics LED lighting solutions.
Because the blue sky installation proved so successful, in 2009 the
theatre also added ColorBlast 12 and ColorBlast 6 LED lighting
fixtures to illuminate the organ chambers, pillars, and latticework at
either side of the main stage. The ColorBlast fixtures are mounted
on the fl oor of the organ chamber and on specially made brackets at
the foot of each pillar. They throw pink and orange light against the
latticework, and paint the gold columns with purple and purple-blue
light. The ColorBlast fixtures are digitally controllable LED floodlights
that natively produce millions of colors, so the theatre can easily switch
to a special lighting scheme for Christmas each year, then switch back
after the holiday season ends.
The theatre’s 30 board members, whose mission is to keep operations
up to date while preserving the theatre’s character as a historical
landmark, were initially reluctant to install colored light, as they
thought it might be garish. They changed their minds, however, when
they saw the results: The ColorBlast fixtures accentuate the theatre’s
breathtaking architectural details with saturated, high-quality colored
light, to stunning effect.
Plans are currently under development to replace all of the Fox
Theatre’s lighting with energy-efficient LED fixtures. The goal of
these renovations is to further enhance patrons’ experience of the
Fabulous Fox while creating a safe, pleasing environment through the
appropriate application of LED-based general illumination and safety
lighting in passageways, aisles, and exits. In addition to signifi cant
savings in maintenance and energy costs, the Fox Theatre could also
potentially realize new merchandising and rental opportunities by
turning the building into a showcase for innovative “green” lighting
technology.
View the orginal case study on this installation.
View this page in PDF format.
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