Essential Lighting was asked by Andy Grant, working with Ten Alps, to supply 36 Ireos Pro 7 Kw Space Cannons for a daring high-impact festive lighting scheme running the length of Oxford Street. Commissioned by end client The New West End Company and designed by Andy Grant, the scheme is a total departure from any previous more traditional incarnations of the Oxford Street lights.

The result was nine 7-metre high ESS gantries, designed to allow clearance for double decker buses underneath - spanning Oxford Street, spread out from the Tottenham Court Road end to Marble arch. Each one is loaded with four Space Cannons and a 100 KVA Cat generator.

Control was a major challenge. Obviously, a wired data system was out of the question, so an eDMX system was employed utilising special directional polarised antennae, to send data down the 1.9 Km of Oxford Street. This is arguably the longest short term installed radio DMX system in the world to date.

Production Company: Ten Alps Events
Lighting Design: Andy Grant
Photographs courtesy of Louise Stickland