The Alnwick Garden

The Alnwick Garden, UK

Artistic Licence supplied the sophisticated control system for ‘Sparkle’, the after-dark permanent lighting installation at The Alnwick Garden in Northumberland. The first phase of the project, installed by Marl, uses feature LED lighting to create an array of colour effects at the popular visitor attraction.

Marl consulted Artistic Licence on the initial network design, and called upon the company to provide a complete control solution with the versatility to create mood lighting programmes suitable for any occasion. The Artistic Licence Colour-Tramp controller, a product combining lighting control with graphic editing, provided all the functionality and flexibility needed to meet the project’s stringent demands.

In order to demonstrate Colour-Tramp’s broad capabilities, Artistic Licence hosted a training session for the project engineers. They were shown how to enter the LED fixture array using the product’s sophisticated graphic user interface, and guided through the in-built colour palettes and visual editing tools. This enabled the creation of a rich variety of lighting shows. As a result, the Sparkle installation now benefits from a 60-colour lighting programme driven by Colour-Tramp.

Integral to the lighting control was the ability to provide smooth LED dimming. For this purpose, Artistic Licence developed a custom version of its Candle-Power CP24 LED dimmer. For the user interface, the company supplied its Mica trigger panel, a wall-mounted product combining elegance and practicality for large installations.

Sparkle opened to much excitement in November 2012, attracting media interest throughout the region. The lighting display attracts visitors to the Garden year round, while providing themed backdrops for custom events.