Boathouse Row LED Lighting - Philips Color Kinetics

Just in time for the city’s Fourth of July celebration, Philadelphia’s historic Boathouse Row received a high-tech lighting makeover in June 2005. Made possible by Color Kinetics’ intelligent LED lighting technology, the new lighting system replaced a 30-year-old incandescent system that required frequent and costly maintenance. By installing the LED lighting system, the Fairmount Park Commission expects to save approximately $57,000 in annual operating costs!

A popular Philadelphia landmark, Boathouse Row comprises twelve boating clubs in ten, architecturally distinct buildings along a half-mile stretch of the Schuylkill River. Prior to the relighting project, the Fairmount Park Commission was spending more than $50,000 per year on bulb replacement and $8,000 per year on energy costs. The new system encompasses more than 12,000 individually controllable nodes of iColor® Flex SL -- a flexible, LED-based strand of light. Each node is driven by Color Kinetics’ custom-engineered Chromasic® microchip, allowing for intricate, colorful lighting sequences in addition to simple white light that closely matches the previous incandescent system. The LED-based system also features the benefits of long source life, durability, and reduced energy consumption, which translate to reduced operating costs.

While the new LED-based system will primarily display white light like its incandescent predecessor, a series of colorful , dynamic light shows were created and programmed by Troy A. Martin-O'Shia of Hase & Associates, Ltd. and his team for the grand unveiling on June 30.

According to Martin-O’Shia, “As Josh Schulman and Krista Billings, my assistants, started programming my show, we found that the system was very flexible. We were not hindered in any way from achieving my vision of having the boathouses lit with color and movement. In fact, as we progressed we found new and exciting ways of manipulating the system.”

The light shows were authored and controlled by Light System Manager, Color Kinetics’ Ethernet-based software/hardware solution that facilitates the authoring, management and control of complex installations that may scale to thousands of individually controlled LED nodes.

“We knew that LEDs were the optimal light source for the project, based on their energy efficiency, lifetime and controllability, yet Color Kinetics’ technology even exceeded our expectations,” said Shannon Yott of Pennell & Wiltberger, Inc. (PWI), who co-managed the architectural lighting design and specifications with Martin-O'Shia. “Not only do we have the ability to cut operational expenses with the LED-based system, we can quickly and easily program customized effects for special occasions -- an option that was not possible with the dated, incandescent system.”

PECO, An Exelon Company, spearheaded the project -- The PECO Challenge. Relighting Boathouse Row -- in partnership with the Fairmount Park Commission, the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 98, who donated all labor. A public campaign, the challenge raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals, corporations and foundations in addition to a start-up contribution from PECO. Additional contributions were provided by others including PWI.