The Hive, University of East Anglia
Year of Completion:
2004
Main Contractor/Customer: Willmott Dixon
Main Contractor/Customer: Willmott Dixon
During the total refurbishment of The Hive, the student canteen area at the University of East Anglia, contractor Willmott Dixon wanted to tackle the problem of solar glare and heat gain caused by the glazed roof.
Working alongside Architen Landrell they decided to install a series of fabric features to shade the people below. However, after dark, these features disappeared, becoming obscured by the darkness.
It was at this point that the Architen Lighting team stepped in and suggested that the addition of lighting to the corners of the hypar shapes. This would enhance the structures at night and could be designed to be colour changing and remotely programmable if required.
Without altering the look of the simple hypars, the light fittings were fixed to the corners of the steelwork and positioned to bounce off the fabric and disperse their light across the entire surface. Driven by two 36DRV on an automatic programme of colour control the lighting cycles through colours to colour wash the surface and create maximum impact.
