To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary this year, Blair Drummond Safari Park in Scotland has opened a new walkthrough dinosaur attraction. Offering an opportunity for visitors to come face-to-face with life-size animatronic models of the most iconic creatures from the Jurassic period, after dark the woodland site is dramatically illuminated by 55 of ADJ’s LED-powered “outdoor ready” wash fixtures.
Since the park opens well after dark in the winter months and also hosts special events for Halloween and Christmas, management were clear that lighting would be an integral part of the new attraction. They had previously worked with specialist lighting provider Essential Supplies – based in Cornwall, England – on a project to light a special event space.
Essential Supplies’ Alex Darling was responsible for designing and specifying the project as well as carrying out the onsite installation. Because of the family-oriented nature of the park, and the scale of the dinosaurs themselves, Darling choose a fun, colorful palette for illuminating the trees in the area instead of trying to recreate an authentic Jurassic period aesthetic. Then he opted for simple warm white illumination of the dinosaurs themselves to highlight the intricate detail of the models.
“The park is out in the middle of nowhere and it really is pitch black at night,” explains Darling. “So the lighting is essential for the attraction to operate after dark, but it also creates a bit of stay enthusiasm for guests, encouraging them to extend their visit to see the dinosaurs lit up. Obviously, my design is far from ‘to the book’ Jurassic, but I found that because the models are so big and lifelike, lighting them in an authentic way made the area a bit too scary. I knew that the park wouldn’t want their younger visitors to be frightened, so went for a design that is as fun and colorful as possible in the background but then aimed to light the dinosaurs as theatrically as possible so they retain their realistic appearance.”
To achieve this, Darling selected two models from ADJ’s range of weatherproof fixtures, the 32 HEX Panel IP and Encore Burst RGBW IP, which were used in multiples to light the entire “World of Dinosaurs” exhibit. Both fixtures feature rugged all-metal construction and are sealed from water and particulates up to the IP65 standard, making them ideal for both temporary outdoor events as well as permanent installation projects such as this.
The 32 HEX Panel IP is a multi-function wash / blinder / color strobe that features 32 x 12W HEX (6-IN-1) RGBWA+UV LEDs, allowing for the creation of an expansive palette of both vibrant saturated colors and subtler pastel shades. It offers a 24-degree beam and its LEDs are arranged into eight individually-controlled sections to allow for the creation of “eye candy” chase effects. It is supplied with a versatile variable-angle bracket, which can be used interchangeably for hanging and as a floor stand, as well as a removable magnetic frame to allow the addition of a diffusion filter to increase the spread of the beam.
“I chose to use the 32 HEX Panel IP on this project because of its brightness and beam spread,” explains Darling, “not to mention its really good color mixing abilities. I’d also used a significant number of the units in harsh conditions last year on another project, the Illuminate Festival of Light, so I knew that they would be up to the challenge of permanent outdoor use. With their good throw, I mainly used these fixtures to light up the tree canopies in a variety of different colors to create a backdrop for the dinosaurs.”
The Encore Burst RGBW IP is a high intensity wash / blinder / strobe fixture powered by a single 150W quad color (4-in-1) RGBW LED. It offers a wide beam angle of 50-degrees and extremely smooth color mixing with no shadows thanks to its COB (Chip On Board) LED engine. The lightweight fixture features an integrated two part yoke, which can either be split to form a floor stand or combined to create a regular hanging bracket complete with an Omega bracket attachment.
“For this project I particularly wanted something with a really smooth but wide spread of light,” explains Darling, “and the Encore Burst RGBW IP offers exactly that. With its wide beam angle and Fresnel-style lens, it was perfect for illuminating the dinosaurs themselves in warm white. The chip in them is phenomenal; I didn’t get any hots spot, just a nice, even and natural-looking coverage of light. I really can’t fault the build quality of these fixtures too; they are solid, rugged, and I’m sure that they are up to the challenge of permanent installation in a cold forest in Scotland! We’ve generally found ADJ’s IP65-rated fixtures to be very reliable; we’ve had fixtures that claim to be IP65 from other suppliers in the past that have leaked a bit, but we’ve never had a problem with ADJ units.”
