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Robe iBolts illuminate Union Buildings in Pretoria

Designer Chris de Lancey from Immersive Show Technology was asked to create an architectural lighting scheme for the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, to help celebrate the recent South African presidential inauguration. De Lancey chose to work with Robe Esprite moving lights and one of the new Robe iBolts, which were applied together with projection mapping of the South African flag onto the building.

The final inauguration events are organised on a tight timescale once the actual election results are confirmed and certified - de Lancey received the call a week beforehand and was asked to present a scheme for illuminating the Union Buildings, a difficult structure to light effectively due to is 285-metre long facade. The buildings are semi-circular in shape with two side wings representing the union of formally divided people.

This was the first time that de Lancey had lit the Buildings. Initially, the client had the idea of projecting the South African flag onto the four end-walls, however, after a site visit de Lancey proposed lighting the two inner end-walls with the projected flags, and lighting along the whole facade of the near side wings for better effect. The client agreed and de Lancey then specified six Robe Esprites a side for the facade illuminations, and two 40K projectors for the flags onto the two end-walls.

From a conversation with Duncan Riley from Robe’s South African distributor DWR Distribution, de Lancey learned that the iBolt had recently arrived in the country. They both thought it would also be an appropriate “inauguration event” for this laser-lightsource searchlight style fixtures in South Africa, and that an iBolt would complete and complement the other elements of the installation. DWR’s Duncan and Bruce Riley rocked up on site with the fixtures and set them up and programmed the iBolts using a small console so it blasted up into the night sky and cycled through a number of effects.

The Esprites were rigged on truss tower sections on the other side of a road that passes directly in front - with a 9-metre drop - of the buildings, along the edge of the large park/amphitheatre that stretches away in front of the seat of government. They were positioned to avoid greenery, and the shutters used extensively to produce delineating lines between the different bold flag colours. The central curved building and its two distinctive turrets, illuminated by a permanent lighting installation already in place for some years, provided depth, contrast and a negative space that coincidentally referenced the black parts of the South African flag.

The installation ran for three nights from dusk to dawn and was enjoyed by the press and the public either side of the actual inauguration ceremony, which took place at midday on June 19, 2024, on the South Lawns of the Union Buildings.

(Photos: Chris Duys)

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