EVENT FOCUS
CHRISTMAS AT THE EDEN PROJECT GLX Productions deploys 300 IP65+ rated lighting fixtures to illuminate the eco-visitor attraction site.
Located in Cornwall, the Eden Project has been home to two large geometric bubble-like Biomes, aptly named ‘Rainforest’ and ‘Mediterranean’, since opening to the public in March 2001. The Rainforest Biome boasts the world’s largest indoor rainforest – spanning 50m high and 16,000 sq m, while the Mediterranean Biome houses more than 1,000 varieties of plant from that region. For the second year running, GLX Productions was tasked with the design and delivery of Biome lighting for the latest rendition of Christmas at the Eden Project. Over the course of five days, the GLX Productions team of Production Manager and Lighting Crew Chief, Glenn Gridley; Lighting Designer, Zak Nicholson; Lighting Technicians, James Coxon, Catherine Walton, Joe Bower and Embry Koehler oversaw the deployment of over 300 lighting fixtures, 3km of cable and 5km of fairy lights across the site. Checking in
with TPi following the completion of the firm’s largest lighting installation at the Eden Project to date, Gridley described how the team had to up their game – and fixture count – to bring some much-needed festive joy to the site, following a difficult 2020. “The Biome landscapes were lit by Lighting Designer, Zak Nicholson in rich colours to create a compelling world of shadows and light. The centrepiece of the Mediterranean Biome was a giant 1m mirror ball casting a blizzard of snowflake-like points of silvery light across the giant structure using GLX’s new range of CHAUVET Professional Rogue Outcast 1 fixtures, marking the first time the units have been deployed on UK soil. “The Biomes catch light really well provided you have the right positioning throughout,” Gridley explained. “Due to the Rainforest Biome’s immense height, it looks incredible when lit, but the unusual landscape 14