Rundle Mall Lantern

Adelaide City Council strives to create and support a dynamic, diverse and growing City, yet one which still values its unique heritage. The Council’s vision is for the City to be a vibrant, populous and sustainable Capital City built upon Adelaide’s heritage and lifestyle.

To support this vision and defined as a crucial element of their Strategic Plan, the Council required a local priority location for new artwork based on the Council’s programming of major improvements of the City’s streets and public spaces.

The ‘Rundle Mall Lantern’ concept was developed to enable the Council to create a digital public art space for local Adelaide artists, to foster creativity and activate the city’s public spaces in a culturally vibrant way.

Imagine.

Considered one of the most dynamic and cultural canvases of Adelaide, the 9 storey, 1066 square metered, Rundle Mall Lantern is a 748 panel LED lighting display that would truly transform the western side of the busy shopping district.

Crucial elements of the scope included:

Delivery to coincide with tightly scheduled public unveiling
Leverage the unique space within the multi-storey car park structure including electrical compatibility
Design and development of ground breaking concept
Source, manufacture and application of entire framework
Source and individually install each of the 748 panels onto the framework
Minimal disruption to the public space including assurance of safety at all times

The concept of lighting up a structure of this size, in this manner, would be a first for Australia.

Create.

Partnering with local innovators, BB Architects and Fusion, Signcraft enabled the design and development of this historical landmark by providing expertise in the following crucial areas:

key structural points on the existing building were captured, including the current state of wiring and electrical locations and overall compliance requirements to support the Council’s regulations
Project strategy developed to support design tolerances and introduce mass-production savings
Engineering of frame-types, outrigger construction, face panel construction and wiring
Aluminium face panels cut, shaped and corrosion-resistant surface applied
LED units, control gear and wiring were sourced from Italy to drive product innovation
All 748 LED panels were individually tested to ensure operations met the Council’s requirements
Construction and assembly of frames facilitated within the Signcraft plant due to immense size of structure
Transport of all items with a maximum possible assembly of 90% off-site, 10% on-site
Coordination of power and data cables in conjunction with frame installation schedule
Installation of all frames, LED panels, cable trays and equipment enclosure to the existing building completed out of business hours, with supporting traffic control, to minimise local disruption
Signcraft Project Manager dedicated to overseeing the entire operation from the onset through to final delivery

Amplify.

Best viewed from Adelaide’s iconic Rundle Mall, the Lantern’s designs are driven by computer software that showcase colourful and moving imagery and digital art works by night, whilst creating a contemporary architectural experience during the day.

Key services used within this project included:

Consultation, planning and strategy
Site survey
Design and documentation
Project management
Provision and utilisation of safety access equipment
Manufacture and installation

The Council’s vision to invigorate and enliven the intersection of Pulteney Street and Rundle Mall, whilst providing an innovative platform for local artists, was achieved with great success and continues to be a fundamental value-enabler to the City’s culture today.