The Arc Show

With an increase in exhibition space of 35%, well over 100 exhibitors, and events such as the Preview Evening with keynote speakers Jonathan Speirs of Speirs and Major Associates and Amarjit Kalsi of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, it is estimated that the show attracted over 3,600 visitors this year, up around 1,000 from 2007.

This year’s show welcomed back many big name exhibitors as well as a large number of new exhibitors such as BEGA, Beta Calco, Castaldi, Doxis, Flos, Forma, Fozz, Ghidini, Illuma, Urbis Lighting and Xenon Architectural Lighting. None of these may be household names in the entertainment industry but with increasingly blurred lines between architectural and entertainment technology (sometimes referred to by that horrible term architainment), the architectural companies are becoming increasingly relevant.

These joined a host of more prominent companies exhibiting at the ARC Show, including ACDC Lighting Systems, Anolis, Artistic Licence, Atwork Associates, Color Kinetics, Crescent Lighting, Danlers, Designed Architectural Lighting, Dynalite, ETAP Lighting, Inspired By Design, Insta, Lee Filters, Martin Architectural, Microlights, Mike Stoane Lighting, NJO Technology, Oktalite Lighting Technology, Philips, PJR Engineering, Roscolab, Sill Lighting, Solar GB, The Light Projects Group, TMB, Tridonic ATCO, Trilux Lighting and Tryka LED. Most, if not all of these companies, have had some experience of applying architectural lighting principles to entertainment and retail venues, whether it be clubs, bars, restaurants, hotels or stores. This trend is gathering pace with LEDs in particular leading the way in lighting design for entertainment venues and beyond.

The ARC Show also hosted the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Enlighten Europe 2008 Conference. The ‘Power of Light’ conference promoted the practice of responsible lighting design from some of the UK’s leading lighting designers. Topics included ‘Lighting for big events’ by Durham Marenghi; ‘New Technologies’ by Peter van der Burgt of Philips Lighting; ‘How to work with architects’ by Keith Bradshaw of Speirs and Major Associates; and ‘Urban light planning for humans?’ by Mark Ridler of BDP Lighting.

There were a number of free technical seminars by exhibitors including ‘Sustainability through lighting control’ by Stewart Langdown of Tridonic.Atco; ‘Success factors for LED lighting’ by Manuel Zarauza of Psram; and ‘Clients at the Controls: Exploring User Interface Design’ by Sam Woodward of Mode Lighting.

In its second year in conjunction with The ARC Show ‘Switched on London’, a Festival of Light, took place in the Pool of London and Bankside from February 7th – 14th. Every evening, from 6pm, iconic landmarks were lit by some of the UK’s best lighting designers and manufacturers. The festival was organised by mondo*dr’s sister magazine, mondo*arc in association with the IALD, and included sites such as the Tower of London, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Southwark Cathedral, Potters Fields Park, HMS Belfast, Hay’s Galleria and Hay’s Wharf. The lighting design firms involved included BDP Lighting, Minds Eye, NDYLight, dpa and Jason Bruges Studio. The manufacturers included ERCO, Martin Architectural, Traxon, Philips Lighting, Lee Filters, Sill Lighting, Anolis, Pulsar, ACDC, Zumtobel and White Light.