A combination of community stories combined with controllable retro zig-zag lighting has transformed a once-neglected alleyway in Doncaster into a much more vibrant, colourful and engaging space.
By Svetlana Shamshoum
Working in major projects for the City of Doncaster Council (CDC), my focus and the focus of our team is very much on delivering schemes that make a positive change for the community.
Hall Gate to Wood Street Alleyway is situated in Doncaster city centre. It had long been associated with anti-social behaviour; the walk-through felt quite dark and unattractive. So, we felt very strongly the need to transform it into a vibrant and inviting space for the community.
The idea was to introduce something creative that invited people to walk through the alleyway by making their walking experience enjoyable and giving the community something to talk about and relate to.
We collaborated with the Higher Rhythm recording studio in Doncaster and artist Jamie Bubb to create an art installation that reflects the culture and history of Doncaster. We also worked to involve local residents and stakeholders in the planning process to gather their input and create a design that reflects the needs of the community.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The process started in 2021, with Higher Rhythm engaging with the community by asking people to submit stories of personal experiences where they had encountered famous music artists in Doncaster.
Those memories were then captured and became a project called ‘Doncaster Sound Memories’, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This led to the creation of a large-scale public exhibition of the stories on the corner of their building on Nether Hall Road in Doncaster.
The exhibition gained such popularity that it prompted the expansion of the exhibition to Hall Gate, with this opportunity provided through CDC’s Culture Team.
We felt this would fit in perfectly for what we wanted to achieve for the Hall Gate to Wood Street alleyway – but with the addition of introducing artistic lighting to transform an ordinary alleyway into a visually striking space.
Jamie Bubb came up with the idea of painting the walls black and featuring enlarged stories and artist images along with creative lighting.
Steven Mundin from Higher Rhythm then came up with the idea of installing famous music lyrics in neon pink, quoting the lyrics from the cover song from The Fall’s I’m Lost in Music to make the experience more personal rather than the original lyrics, which were Sister Sledge’s Lost in Music.
RETRO ZIG-ZAG LIGHTING
Retro zig-zag-shaped lighting was used in an attempt to transport passers-by to the neon haze of nightclubs and late-night gigs as well as drawing attention to the colourful wall graphics.
QR codes were incorporated as a fantastic way to engage people with the narrative behind the art. Once scanned, these offer insights into the creative process and personal anecdotes related to Doncaster.
However, as with anything, there are always challenges. Although we had the creative idea for the lighting, we also had the challenge of ensuring the design provided the correct lighting levels so that we could maintain appropriate functional lighting for the space.
To that end, we worked closely with CDC’s asset manager Craig Morris. Finding the right lighting solution was key; we wanted something that was creative, compliant, low maintenance, cost efficient and CMS compatible.
We kept the previous lighting bulkheads, which were painted to match the black ceiling for aesthetics. They are controlled via the existing CMS to provide lighting at times of low footfall (mainly mid-week overnight) in an agreed compromise to minimise energy usage.
An additional benefit to linked to the existing CMS is that in the event of any failure to the decorative lighting scheme the maintenance team knows it will be alerted and therefore be able to react and relight with a compliant lighting scheme within its seven-day service level agreement whilst specialist parts are sourced.
The decorative lighting is also controlled and monitored by the CMS system and lighting profiles overlap by 10 minutes to ensure continuity of lighting during switchover periods.
Barnsley-based Ark Lighting had done many creative lighting projects in Doncaster and so we approached them with the design proposal for LED strips to be installed on to the black ceiling in a zig zag.
PRE-SET SCENES
Ark Lighting’s Mark Kenyon came back with various solutions for colour-changing lighting and the option for a number of pre-set scenes to be programmed to align with various events throughout the year, but also for a control clock to allow the lighting to be switched to white automatically.
A touch panel also allows for manual control, such as changing the colours. This enables us to have control in-house and minimises the cost for future programming call-outs externally.
We installed an enclosure to house the LED drivers/decoder and touch panel and the termination/fusing. This was mounted at high level to avoid vandalism.
With the budget restrictions we all have to work with these days, we decided to just go with just the one DMX decoder. This means that both the 13m zig-zag strips do the same colour changing.
So, how has it gone down with Doncaster residents and visitors? We have already received positive feedback. The creative lighting design highlights the artwork and has created an engaging and interactive environment.
The whole alleyway now has a unique atmosphere, one that has significant changed its perception from something of a neglected passageway to a much more vibrant and dynamic space.
I am proud to have been involved in the delivery of this lighting scheme, working alongside some of the best expertise in the lighting industry – all working hard behind the scenes to bring this project to life!
Svetlana Shamshoum BSc (Hons) is senior project manager within the major projects team at City of Doncaster Council
This is an abridged version of the full article, which appears in this month’s edition of Lighting Journal. Click on the page-turner opposite to read the full article.
Image courtesy of Svetlana Shamshoum
