Thermometer of light
The U-Bora Commercial Tower in Dubai is among the region’s tallest buildings at 263m high. Designed by Aedas, Hong Kong, and commissioned for the Bando Corporation, the lighting design was completed by AWA.
Oriented orthogonally to the street on the ground floor, the four faces of the tower actually begin to twist as they increase in height, creating a light gradient from a source at the base of the building structure, fading toward the top of the building.
Groups of flood lights are directed at the base and center of the tower so that the light levels gradually decrease above. Due to the rotating profile of the building, achieving the required illumination gradient from fixed points on the ground was a challenge.
In addition, the east and west facades’ vertical slots are illuminated as a ‘light thermometer’ that rises and falls in synch with the ambient outdoor temperature. This vertical accent captures the unique curvature of the façade, and draws the gesture full-circle by ascending from the ground-up on one facade, and from the sky-down on the opposite facade.
An exterior grade, wall-mounted fixture was recommended for the ‘light thermometer’. The original design intent was to create a dynamic effect with the lighting, such that the colour of the light would change from white to red to indicate the rise and fall of the ambient temperature. A digitally controlled fixture would be required to achieve this dynamic effect.
Originally two options were given, one being the Element Labs Versa Tube fixture. Tubes would be mounted continuously in the slot, in parallel, 150mm O.C. rows on the East and West Facades. The fixture would get digital feed from the thermometer interface, which would automatically adjust the colour of the tube to the temperature outside. The second option was a Versa Tile product that would also be mounted continuously on the architectural slot, and similarly, change colour according to the feed from the digital thermometer interface.
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