Project Review: Full Moon Tower, Galaxy Park, Tianjin, China

As China prepares to play host to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, large-scale re-development and enhancement projects are occurring in many of the country’s major cities. Tianjin, a major city of ten million located near Beijing, will be the site of some of the 2008 Games’ ancillary cultural events.

Galaxy Park A high-speed train line is being constructed between the two cities, and Tianjin has embarked on an initiative designed to enhance its attraction and appeal. A night-lighting program designed to improve the look and impact of this industrial metropolis is an integral part of the plan. Tianjin’s Galaxy Park civic plaza is central to the city’s renaissance.

Full Moon Tower

At 52 meters in height, the Full Moon Tower serves as a beacon and viewpoint for the surrounding Galaxy Park and Tianjin City. Clad in clear glass fins, the tower has internal spiraling stairs that are cantilevered off the central tower core. Tourists and visitors can either use these stairs to climb to the top and view the surroundings from the lookout area, or observe from any point on the stairs. The Full Moon Tower is the visual highlight and centerpiece of Galaxy Park.

Project overview

The Galaxy Park civic center and plaza in Tianjin was constructed two years ago and contains a new civic museum in a crescent-shaped building, surrounded by a civic plaza and water-filled reflecting pools. Between the points of the building’s crescent shape and situated among the reflecting pools is the Full Moon Tower, rising up 52 meters in height.

Full Moon Tower The tower was originally illuminated using white cold-cathode lighting; however, after its opening, the Tianjin City Image and Environmental Commission, in charge of night-time lighting, decided to liven up and animate the tower. Project managers TEON Environmental — a company based in Vancouver, with offices in Beijing and Tianjin — asked TIR Systems to co-operate on a proposal that would realize the city of Tianjin’s vision for Galaxy Park and its centerpiece, the Full Moon Tower.

Lighting scheme

The concepts proposed by TIR and TEON called for the tower to be illuminated internally to create a magical dynamic glowing effect, in conjunction with external starburst effects.

The glowing effect was created using 180 TIR Systems Destiny CW luminaires to continuously uplight the white painted underside of the spiraling staircase within the tower. The Destiny CW luminaires, containing 60 high-flux LEDs, are programmed for a variety of effects designed to emphasize the vertical form of the tower.

Full Moon Tower This part of the concept was demonstrated to the city and its vice mayor, Mr. Chen Zhifeng, and Directors General Mr Li Zhandong and Mr Li Jinliang, by the use of a photorealistic animation created using the actual photometric performance data of the Destiny CW luminaires.

The starburst effect, requested later in the design process by city officials, is created through 85 Destiny DL luminaries mounted on the exterior horizontal glass fins of the tower, spaced at increasing density toward the top. The Destiny DL luminaires, containing 12 high-flux LEDs per linear foot, have been programmed to create both random and patterned flash effects.

The lighting control system selected to create and manage the nightly shows was the Colour Tramp system by Artistic Licence, which sends DMX instructions to the red, green and blue LED channels on each luminaire.

The system was designed, commissioned and programmed by Ptarmigan Consulting Ltd under a subcontract with TIR. TIR selected Ptarmigan’s Simon Fraser, based on his extensive lighting and show control experience in Asia (including the Hong Kong Harbour Lighting Project). Recognizing both the stature and challenges of doing this type of project in Mainland China, TEON assumed the key but difficult role of prime supplier and contractor to the city, in the end delivering a successful turnkey lighting project in record time.

The final result realizes the vision of Tianjin and entertains its proud citizens and visiting tourists nightly.

Project details

Preliminary discussions began in December 2003, with the first round of design initiated in June 2004. The system was installed in less than six weeks, becoming fully operational in January 2005.

Products:
- Luminaires: TIR Systems Destiny CW, TIR Systems Destiny DL
- Control System: Artistic Licence Colour Tramp

Project team:
- Tianjin City Image and Environmental Commission
- Galaxy Park, Tianjin Municipal Investment Corp. (China)
- TEON Environmental (Canada)
- TIR Systems (Canada)
- Ptarmigan Consulting Ltd (Hong Kong)