According to LDP, the concept for the lighting of the central plaza was drawn from Melbourne's tram network. The city's image is greatly influenced by the overhead tram wires that are present in many of its central streets. After much thought about possible methods of providing the necessary lighting levels across the plaza area and having decided to keep the space clear of columns or bollards and not create glare by mounting downward directed lighting on top of the buildings, it was concluded that an overhead catenary system would not only be a suitable visual metaphor but could also provide a uniform quality of illumination.

The layout of the catenary cables is designed to complement the fractal nature of the cladding to elevations of the buildings that bound the plaza. The cables can be considered as a horizontal 'wire frame' version of the elevation design and are laid out in the form of a multi-layered network that is apparently random in nature. In reality the cable layout is designed to facilitate a distribution of the suspended downlight luminaires that provides the necessary degree of lighting uniformity to the plaza below. The apparent randomness of luminaire layout is deliberate and responds to the architectural forms that occur throughout the project.

128 metal halide 35-watt units are specifically designed and made by Zumtobel Staff for the Federation Square project and provide an average of 15 lux at the plaza surface with a minimum of 5 lux and maximum of 20 lux. The City of Melbourne requirement was 10 lux average. The variation in illuminance values provides an interesting emphasis to the variables in the warm stone that makes up the surface of the plaza.

This system illuminates the plaza surface at night via the purpose designed lamps suspended from an irregular geometry of 13 cross braced cable pairs. The catenary network provides a subtle distribution of light across the complex plaza topography, supporting four distinct operational modes: fully illuminated, concert light, egress and after midnight. The purpose-designed lamps were developed through an exhaustive prototyping process to minimise glare, maximise beam spread and enhance the star-like qualities of the lamps. Refined manipulation of the lamp reflector, rim and lens enhanced the distant, sparkling view of the luminaire, illuminating the plaza with a constellation of stars. This elegant lighting system has made the west frontage of Federation Square warm and inviting, contributing to the ambience of the plaza as a relaxing evening and night-time destination. Maintenance of the system is by cherry picker from the plaza.

L+BS, in consultation with LDP, conducted extensive research and investigations on contemporary museum and gallery lighting requirements, and how they could be assimilated with innovative architectural design for the NGV Australia. The achievements were the results of a series of test lighting approaches using computer simulations developed to understand in both empirical and visual manner, the effects of different lamps, lights and fixture placements. Of additional importance was the ability to present these results and tests to representatives of the client so that they maintained clear knowledge and confidence in this contemporary approach. LDP worked closely with L+BS, providing advice on lighting techniques and equipment for all interior conditions within the NGVA. As the project of Federation Square and the NGVA in particular, sought to maintain a multi-faceted and yet coherent gallery experience for both the public and the staff, it was an important criteria that the lighting effects throughout the entire building be highly considered and imaginatively applied. LDP provided the expertise, and more importantly, the engagement to produce this critically and publicly acclaimed facility.

The internal lighting at the NGV achieved the necessary visual and technical requirements through an integral relationship with the architectural articulation of the gallery interior. This involved understanding the behaviour and characteristics of natural light (its colour temperature, intensity and balance with artificial light), in conjunction with optimum lighting angle requirements for both wall washing and accent lighting. This is integrated with the balanced control of light temperature and illumination levels for non-sensitive materials, historic paintings and light sensitive works. The lighting design for the gallery spaces is based around achieving the required museum quality lighting from an architecturally informed design. Appropriate lighting techniques for both gallery exhibition lighting as well as architectural lighting are therefore combined to produce a complete visual experience.

The 20 gallery spaces used a total of 228 Dynalite 905 (12 channel) dimmers (2196 dimmers in total) supplied by Dynalite distributors Lightmoves. The number of dimmers varied in each gallery, the largest had around 230 dimmer channels connected to 3 circuit lighting track. There was no acceptable way of labelling the lighting track to identify what dimmers were controlling a particular section of track. Each gallery had a different layout of track that ran at various angles to the walls.

The brief to Lightmoves was that gallery staff needed to be able to adjust the dimmers in a gallery space to balance light levels. This had to be achieved with minimal training and without a reliance on reams of paperwork, tables, schematics and plans. Reliance on Lightmoves staff to set lighting level was not an acceptable solution.

The idea was to provide an innovative way of controlling the dimmers in each gallery. The dimmers were connected on a distributed RS485 network (Dynalite DYNET). The software package Control Soft was loaded on to a Laptop PC. The laptop could be plugged into the dimming system via RJ45 (telephone style) sockets distributed throughout each gallery in floorboxes. Control Soft contained a visual programming tool called Plan View. Plan View shows an Auto CAD style view of the gallery in question with the lighting track layout shown. The user simply needs to display the correct gallery space, ensure that the system is replaying the preset that needs to be altered and then visually identify the piece of track to be controlled by matching the plan to the room. The user then uses a mouse to click the piece of track on the screen and three sliders pop up in a small window. These sliders refer to the three circuits of the track. The user can adjust the sliders and the dimmers respond in real time. If this change is to be saved into the system, the save button is pushed. In this way the user does not need to know which dimmer the track is connected to. The only prerequisite is the ability to be able to orientate a plan to match the room.

The Control Soft system implemented by Lightmoves fulfils the requirements of the brief. The system is very easy to use. The intent of providing a system that meant that the complexity of the lighting did not unnecessarily slow down the normal gallery time frames for the set up of each new exhibition was clearly met. The system allows quite refined adjustment of lighting levels for large numbers of dimmers to be achieved rapidly and intuitively.

Control Soft also provides a number of secondary uses. There is a version sitting on a desktop PC that is used to give visual indication of the status of the lighting, a sophisticated timeclock and various fault finding and system report functions.

Whilst energy efficiency was not a parameter actively stated in the design brief, a by-product of flexibility of control is efficiency. The lighting is generally dimmed back to a level lower than 95%. The voltage regulation, surge limiting and soft start all assist in preserving lamp life. The sophisticated timeclock is used to ensure that the gallery lighting is not left on. On the third floor there are PE cells and Louvre Controllers so that if needed daylight can be used as a lighting tool in the gallery with the amount of daylight entering the skylights regulated so that an optimum lighting level is maintained in the gallery space. This is only used when works that are not light sensitive are being displayed.

Lighting in these areas had some specific requirements: Galleries are large volume, foyers are space to provide relief and release, therefore glare free downlighting from Erco was required to create a warm ambient atmosphere, foyer ceilings were created by the architects to follow the fractal geometry of the building. They are used to provide indirect illumination into the foyers creating vertical illuminance and care had to be taken not to create reflections on the multi media screens.

'Interfilament' is a term coined by L+BS to describe the voids between the gallery areas. Imagine the upper and lower gaps in an 'X' or 'H' which resemble the NGV design, these are the interfilaments. The South Interfilament space is rendered as a luminous void by the use of translucent glass panes that are uniformly lit from behind. This illusion of luminosity is heightened by the use of direct lighting from linear fittings which respond to the fractal patterns. The quality of light in the South Interfilament space is modulated on a continuous basis by the Dynalite control system. The North Interfilament was designed to create a calm yet powerful zone, to accentuate this, the lighting is located at the roof level only. What are the intrinsic differences between these two spaces? The South is open, airy and luminous, like an exhaled sigh of relief, whereas the north interfilament is breathtaking, a dramatic space to inspire awe and introspection within a vertical void of three floors.

The Alfred Deakin Building, the official title for the double building facility for the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and SBS, is joined by a glazed central arcade. This arcade links the two discrete structures and forms the primary entrance space for the numerous activities and facilities of these two important cultural organisations. Importantly, as part of the overall design concept for Federation Square, this 'central arcade' provides both the entry and foyer to this complex, but also operates as a connection beyond, to the civic square, to the other destinations of Federation Square and to the Yarra River. As part of this important cultural and urban design role, the lighting for this highly activated space demanded an astute understanding of the multiple roles the space would perform. LDP worked closely with the architects in determining how best to exploit the dynamics of this space and to manage the, at times, contradictory imperatives from the different tenancy groups involved. LDP provided numerous scenarios for the comprehensive lighting of the space, taking particular account of the surface materials and their reflective, projective or emanating qualities.

Characterised by its glass walled enclosure, providing a view out for visitors. At night this is transformed by spotlighting the structure within the doubleglazed skin using Meyer fixtures with custom lenses. This highlights the triangulated structural system of galvanised steel and enhances the transparency of the theatre. At viewer level there's a glass walkway through the double skin, which is underlit using dimmable fluorescent fixtures. During performances the entire translucent ceiling can be backlit to create an ambient glow and is supplemented by discrete theatrical lighting.