Xscape Centre, Milton Keynes

With the Xscape Centre housing Europe's biggest "real snow" ski slope, the idea was to achieve the look of an icy blue, snow-capped mountain. To achieve this, the frosted glass facade was illuminated by 31 Hydrel 7200 floodlights, creating a blue glow by using blue 400W metal halide lamps. The fittings were mounted on 15 columns ranging from 6m to 20m height, positioned to follow the shape of the building for minimal visual impact.
The luminaires were arranged to provide an even glow of light using the horizontal flood light distribution and then some soft spikes of blue light reaching the top of the facade from the higher columns in the centre of the facade were added using the tight spot distribution. The framework, which is more reflective than the glass, was also highlighted across the top of the facade.

Additionally, 18 Hydrel 7200 fittings with standard metal halide lamps were used as downlights to provide illumination to the piazza area, while 2 x M9800 luminaires were utilised on the outside of the stairwells.

When the design work was completed and proposals accepted, Holophane suggested and carried out site trials, as it can be difficult to predict the effect achieved when illuminating various surfaces (in this case glass) with computer calculations. After the trials confirmed that the effect was as desired and the architect was please with the results, the project was installed and then commissioned by Holophane.

Architect - Faulkner Browns
Consultant - Faber Maunsell
Main contractor - Sir Robert McAlpine
End User - Xscape (www.xscape.co.uk)