Lighting a bridge: Connecting two monuments

V&A Waterfront,

Cape Town

Philips and Solid State Lighting International has installed its latest Color Kinetics Vaya LED lighting solutions to light up the Clock Tower, the Port Captain’s building and the Swing Bridge at the V&A Waterfront, creating an almost mythical atmosphere that brings history to life.

The spectacular lighting of the Clock Tower, the Port Captain’s building and the Swing Bridge demonstrates the incredible advances that are being made in the efficiency and beauty of LED illumination.

- Thierry Boulanger, Vice President and General Manager, Philips lighting Africa

V&A Waterfront Swing Bridge in the foreground of the historic Clock Tower.

The stately octagonal Victorian, Gothic-style Clock Tower built in 1883 and is now brought back to life with Philips lighting.

The iconic Port Captain’s Building at the heart of Cape Town’s popular tourist waterfront is once again centre of attention thanks to Philips lighting.

Customer challenge

The V&A Waterfront is a popular tourist venue in Cape Town. The stately octagonal Victorian Clock Tower was built in 1883. With the harbour expansion, a beautiful gabled building was constructed in 1904 to house the Port Captain. Drawing attention to these iconic monuments would require drawing traffic flow across the Waterfront and required a lighting solution that would preserve the history.

The right lighting

Solid State Lighting International and Philips installed its latest Color Kinetics Vaya LED lighting solutions combining warm and cool daylight colors to create an almost mythical atmosphere around the Clock Tower, the Port Captain’s building and the Swing Bridge that brings history to life. The LED Lighting installed has a lifetime of up to 50,000 (fifty thousand) hours and is entirely cutting edge, with each luminaire having its own IP address; a precursor to the future of connected lighting in an environment steeped in history. Each luminaire is highly energy efficient and low in maintenance. The dynamic and programmable colour changing effects allow for an infinite combination of lighting shows to draw tourists to these magnificent monuments. The Clock Tower, Swing Bridge, and Port Captain’s Building are once again centre of attention.