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Council House Colours the Night

First opened in 1963, Perth’s Council House has become an iconic landmark building in the bustle of the CBD.

In 2009, the City of Perth aimed to create a nightscape ‘postcard image’ of the city by illuminating the skyline. Council House played a large role in this, it’s unique interlocking T design would be reinvigorated with changing multicoloured lighting.

A decade on, due to the age of the installation meant the City began facing ongoing technical difficulties and trouble sourcing parts for the lighting system. Insight Electrical Technology was carefully selected by the City to design and install a new, improved LED lighting system.

The Challenge

An 11-Storey heritage-listed Council building located in the centre of Perth’s CBD posed a few challenges for our project team to overcome.

For one, the application of lighting at height meant we needed to use a ‘swing stage’ to traverse the building’s façade. Risks had to be mitigated for the safety of both the public and IET staff, with regular audits being conducted across the project.

The age of the building meant that no structural drilling or penetrations of the building’s fabric was permitted. Instead, we researched various adhesives ultimately landing on one product to successfully attach each luminaire to the building’s architecture.

A side benefit of using an adhesive was that we were able to keep noise to a minimum, which was a major benefit to the Council’s operations.

Other Considerations

A key consideration was the uniformity of light across the building’s façade. We utilised Magnetic Protractors to ensure the beam angle of each fitting was consistent. Then, we did countless night tests to ensure each luminaire performed as required by IET’s design intent.

The permanent programmable feature lighting system needed to incorporate various functionalities. As well as generally highlighting the structural/architectural visual elements of Council house, the control system needed to allow the City to ‘colour’ the building in various themes as required for certain occasions.

The Result

Through all the complexity, the end result was a successful project delivered on time, exceeding the City’s expectations.

This project is significant to the City of Perth as it ensures Council House will remain an icon of the nightscape with the ability to engage the public and bring a little more colour to life in the city.