Spiers & Major Associates

    Jonathan Speirs (far left) and Mark Major (near left) are principals of Jonathan Speirs and Associates (JSA) and Speirs and Major (SAM) which comprise the two component parts of the Lighting Architects Group.

    Multi-award winners and designers of such prestigious projects as the Millennium Dome, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Burj Al Arab tower, we take a look at their history, their philosophy and their projects...

      Regarded by many as the originators of the title "Lighting Architects", both principals - Jonathan Speirs and Mark Major - are qualified Architects which allows them to use this title.
      The two studios have a dedicated group of talented designers that come from a variety of architectural and arts related backgrounds. Indeed both Jonathan and Mark believe that one of the significant reasons for their success is the strength of creativity and technical ability of the teams - not forgetting the undoubted passion with which all the designers feel about their subject. Their creativity and innovation, supported by a strong pragmatic attitude to the important issues of sustainability, buildability, maintainability and cost is what attracts their clients to return again and again.
      These skills have led to their receiving a considerable number of lighting awards for their work on many high profile projects such as the Magna Adventure Science Centre, Rotherham and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (both with Wilkinson Eyre Architects) which won the last prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize - Building of the Year Award in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

      In the last year they scored three Awards out of six categories in the UK National Lighting Awards, the only International Association of Lighting Designers Award of Excellence and the only International Illumination Design Awards Award of Distinction. They are the only UK based designers to be shortlisted for the newly launched ELEC European Lighting Awards where they have been shortlisted in three of the five main categories.
      With a world-wide reputation and prodigious output of projects, it may be surprising to appreciate that the studios are two modest sized, very tight knit teams. Currently there are twelve designers plus the principals in the two studios working as a closely integrated team. If anything they feel that it has been keeping the studios to a size that allows the principals to still be 'hands on' that has provided one of the magic ingredients.
      What may appear surprising to many when examining their work is the significant range of their project experience both in terms of scale - large city and urban lighting masterplanning and its implementation to small scale, jewel-like Light Art projects - and wide variety of project types from airports to shopping centres to hotels to museums. This variety keeps the designers charged with enthusiasm and interest and they regularly find a great deal of cross-fertilisation of ideas, techniques or products from one diverse project type to another.

      JSA was formed in 1992, and following the opening of a London studio in 1993, in collaboration with Mark Major, the two principals formed SAM in 1996. The primary focus from the beginning was creativity and client service. Their ability to quickly grasp not only the three-dimensional intricacies of projects being designed but also the value added aspects relating to marketing or other personnel related matters are also appreciated by architects and clients.
      One of their fundamental attitudes to light relates to its natural change across the day and its variation from season to season and how this can manifest itself in their design philosophies. The use of natural light and sustainable energy sources are also a recurrent aspect of their work. It is also rare to physically see the lighting equipment that provides the illumination of their spaces, rather the location of the equipment is carefully considered to ensure that it is discrete and that glare is avoided or minimised. They are more interested in the medium and quality of light in space than any iconic value a visible luminaire may have. Both principals and other design team members regularly lecture or run educational workshops. Recently Jonathan and Mark spent an entire week with 14 students at this years Alingsas (Sweden) lighting workshops run by the European Lighting Designers Association. They are also involved as creative consultants and organisers of the Architectural Lighting Master Classes, being held in New York City in February 2003 for the second time.

      "Light is all about communication - but given the nature of the medium we also need to be able to communicate clearly about light", states Mark Major, "if you cannot clearly explain your ideas then it doesn't matter how wonderful they are - people will simply not buy into them."
      Jonathan Speirs adds, "We have continually strived to produce more interesting creative responses for our clients' projects and we fully intend to continue to surprise our clients and other team members for many years to come!"

      Burj Al Arab Tower
      Currently the tallest hotel tower in the world measuring 321 metres to the top of its spire, situated on its own man-made island 300 metres offshore. Exterior lighting is a key feature of the tower, and of the entire Jumeirah Beach Resort adjacent to the site. The first element of the exterior lighting design is the illumination of the inner facets of the exoskeleton with its huge angled trusses, an effect achieved with cool metal halide projectors. These were carefully specified with different lenses to ensure that the structure was lit evenly and that there would be no obtrusive spill light onto the bedroom facades. As the major expressive element, the crown of the building and the fabric facade are illuminated with nearly 150 DMX controlled Irideon AR500 colour-changing luminaires, located in various positions on the bridge, the island and the tower itself. Recessed into the exoskeleton structure and spire is a total of 90 High End Systems Dataflash high power DMX controlled strobes. These are all individually addressed to allow for maximum programmability with a myriad of chases and patterns available as part of the regular shows. When a helicopter approaches to land on the pad the Dataflashes and Irideons are isolated to ensure they will not blind the pilot.
      Adjacent to the helicopter pad are four 7 kW Xenon Skytracker projectors giving moving pencil beams of light in the sky. These are energised occasionally as part of the programmed sequences. The tower changes from white light to a multicolored changing image as the evening progresses. The shows are designed so that the effect is not too kinetic, but colourful, hypnotic, fun and expressive. Changes take place on the hour and half hour, so that much of the time the tower is static in a single 'look', with enough movement and change in the two small shows per hour to be dynamic and powerful without being overly dominant.
      On the shore are four 7KW PIGI large format scrolling projectors focused onto the fabric facade of the tower over 300 metres away. This is the longest throw distance in the world using this type of equipment in a permanent installation. Three of the projectors are focused one above each other to give an image size of 120 metres high by 40 metres wide, running regular shows specially produced for the tower. The fourth unit projects the faces of Arab leaders and dignitaries when required. The control system allows these to be selected at a moment's notice.
      The control for the exterior lighting is via a single DMX system, designed by JSA and Focus Lighting. The system is based on the ETC equipment and provides automatic control of all JSA specified equipment. It also controls the landscape and external lighting for all of the Jumeirah Beach Development, as well as providing time signals to start and stop internal lighting shows and internal and external fire and water shows by WET design. The links between various areas of the project are by Ethernet over fibre-optic cable with state of the art touch screen technology allied to custom written programming software.

      Gateshead Millennium Bridge
      The essence of the lighting concept was simplicity - to reinforce the form of the structure after dark and create a powerful night-time icon for Gateshead and Tyneside. The primary design priorities were sustainability in terms of both low energy consumption and longevity of lamp sources, avoidance of light pollution into the sky and integration of lighting equipment.
      The main arch is lit with narrow beam luminaires housing state of the art colour changing technology. Primarily utilising white light, the luminaires are also programmed to create subtle colour changes flowing from bank to bank. Maximising the opportunity of reflection provided by the smooth flowing River Tyne the underside of the deck is illuminated. All luminaires are maintained from above the deck.
      Low energy, long-life LED luminaires delineate the outer edges of the bridge providing highlighting to the balustrades. The central 'hedge' separating the pedestrian and cycle routes is internally illuminated using cold-cathode tubing that also provides lighting across the deck of the cycle path.
      The two plant room caissons have blue filtered luminaires underlighting the glass-lensed floor and illuminating the hydraulic ram pit. Prior to the bridge elevating, powerful white spotlights illuminate the hydraulic rams, drawing attention to the impending event.

      HAL 9000
      Lighting works with bold industrial architecture to create a dramatic show-piece environment that is also a positive working space for the operators in this computer centre.
      The project won the Illumination Engineering Society of North America's Edwin F. Guth Memorial Award for Interior Lighting Award of Excellence in 1999. With this accolade, Jonathan Speirs and Associates became the first practice in Europe to win this prestigious award
      VIP and visitor arrival to the space is preceded by an 'airlock', where a red bar code is projected over the visitor against a blue background of perforated metal. Once through the second door the blue floor starts to switch on in a progressive expanding glow from the entry door to the far wall of the space. Expressive fluorescent up and down luminaires were located over the operator stations - all other luminaires were concealed.

      Hungerford Bridge
      The project provides a long awaited and much needed pedestrian link between Embankment and the South Bank. The new bridge replaces an old, badly lit, dirty and industrial 'attachment' to the Hungerford railway bridge. The lighting for the scheme has been designed to subtly enhance the elegant structure, with the insides of the pylons and the 'angel wings' being gently washed in white light.
      At deck level, lighting is provided in the stanchions and handrail system to produce low levels of ambient light on the walkway. This makes the bridge into a safe environment for pedestrians without it becoming too bright an element in the centre of the river. The stanchion lights double up to act as blue marker lights to the exterior of the bridge, giving the bridge an identity. There are further blue marker lights in the form of LED beacons to the pile caps, pylons and short link bridges. Overall the lighting of the bridge is intended to be economical whilst enhancing the bridge's structure and identity by night.

      IBM e-business Innovation Centre
      IBM's e-business marketing suite and design studio located on the South Bank of London's River Thames demonstrates how innovative, creative and responsive IBM can be in the world of e-business. The space is to surprise customers beyond any pre-conceptions they may have and open them to new possibilities that the web could bring them.
      The entrance experience was envisioned as a TV studio with limitless creative possibilities with the latest technology. We resolved to simulate within the space every type of natural sun / moonlight / weather effect. This could help evoke emotional responses to the team's creative scenarios. An important factor was that each client was never to see the space the same way twice. A basic level of 30 pre-sets and animations ensures that this shouldn't happen. When wearing a transponder the lighting system tracks the position of the wearer and responds according to pre-sets. This creates virtual rooms within the centre.
      Within the 'Think Tank' beanbags and comfy chairs are used for rapid brain storming sessions. Mostly cool or warm white this space can be used in a highly thematic manner to stimulate clients into thinking in a manner they wouldn't usually. Behind the glazed meeting rooms a standard cinema space becomes a new experience. This matt black box is light proof with 1,400 fibre optic endpoints fixed in a grid in all four walls, ceiling, floor and even the door. These are zoned between 12 projectors to allow for smooth colour change fading in bands radiating out from the projection screen and other more random animations.
      Beyond the hi-tech demonstration area an office studio environment has been lit to enable individual work station emphasis as well as subtle colour rendering changes from daytime to evening. The combined up / down lights create suitably even illumination with a balance of light reflecting from the ceiling plane.

      Magna Centre
      The Magna Centre is a permanent exhibition centre within a disused steelworks. It consists of a series of dynamic exhibition pavilions inserted into the dramatic, decaying interior. Each pavilion contains interactive exhibits themed according to the elements required for steel-making: earth, air, water and fire. The entrance and support spaces are integrated in and around the original structure and various industrial relics.
      The lighting of Magna plays a central role in supporting the exhibition and creating an atmosphere that enhances the experience of the visitor. Natural light is largely excluded creating sufficient darkness to allow a monochromatic 'red' wash to provide the primary background lighting - a colour reminiscent of rust and decay as well as the heat of molten steel. Glowing pavilions contrast with this background. Connecting walkways and staircases are lit with low level fixtures providing a safe but minimal light. Each of the pavilions are lit in response to their respective themes. The Water Pavilion is filled with rippling turquoise and blue light, whilst the saturated red Fire Pavilion is animated with flickering shadows and glowing embers. The blimp-like Air Pavilion features a spectrum of sky colours, cross-fading with storm and lightning effects. In the half-buried Earth Pavilion, the visitor walks through striated shadows and the industrial equipment is animated by strobing hazard lights.
      The external lighting to the centre is limited to the illumination of a few industrial artefacts, the rest of the lighting glowing from within. The building is left dark and brooding, picked out only by a network of beacons that announce the presence of the centre from a distance.
      The Magna Centre won the prestigious Stirling Prize for Architecture 2001. The Judges commented "Wilkinson Eyre's great achievement, supported by inspired lighting design, has been to allow the existing building to speak for itself and to tell its own History."

      Millennium Dome
      Speirs and Major undertook all architectural lighting inside the space as well as the external landscape spaces adjacent to the building.
      The lighting design had to remain flexible to account for a number of difficult problems surrounding a project of this nature and size. These included the exhibition spaces within the Dome and the central show arena - when the architectural lighting first went out to tender very little was known about the design and content of these areas. The initial concepts were generated around the principle that the majority of architectural lighting was to respond directly to the permanent architectural fabric that would remain after 2000 and the show and exhibition areas would be developed separately with a more temporary approach.
      The lighting scheme creates a simple but effective backdrop to the exhibition insertions inside the Dome. The roof is uplit to effectively describe the form of the building and during the course of the day changes from white through lavender to deep blue at night to change the ambience. The circulation spaces and internal glass box buildings are lit in such a way as to function as individual spaces while maintaining the overall image and views across the Dome.
      The external lighting consists of a number of discovery elements that respond to the overall spirit of the project. Plant cylinders at the base of the Dome are lit in red and respond to activities within the Dome, a number of colour change LED fittings recessed into the public piazza areas change colour and blink on the hour to mark time. A colourful canopy acts as an animated 'red carpet' that carries guests from the river up to the Dome.

      Paddington Station
      'A Gateway for the 21st Century', this was the aim of the recent major refurbishment of Paddington Station. It included the platforms and concourse, enhancements to Brunel's 19th Century roof, the historic facades and a new retail court.
      A major challenge was to balance the technical requirements with respect to passenger safety, energy use and maintenance with the need to provide an appropriate interpretation of the juxtaposition between the historic architecture and the new insertions. The neo-classical facade is lit with a combination of under-run tungsten-halogen uplighters accenting the columns and cool linear fluorescent washing the decorative grilles. The scheme both highlights the facade and provides definition to the main space. Cold cathode was concealed behind a special perforated baffle allowing some downward glow as well as the screen assisting with the upward and sideways distribution.
      The main 'ribs' of the original structure are lit with 70W CDM-T projectors concealed on the top of the main beams to provide definition of the form. The decorative casing at the base of the arch is accented by light captured from the projector using a fibre optic attachment.
      Light was used to define circulation routes - blue cold-cathode in the kicker of escalators, blue cold cathode below glass bridges and landings and blue uplighting to the glazed lift shaft. The colour contrasts with the white light in the food offer areas.

      The Printworks
      The Printworks is a unique development that has risen from the wreckage of Manchester's 1996 IRA bomb. Partial facades of the former printing works were retained; other walls, the roof, and the interior are completely new. Inside is an 'historically themed' internal street and square (the Pumpyard), housing bars, restaurants, retail, cinema and other leisure activities. The interior of UCI Filmworks was also designed.
      The brief was to create an exciting landmark through the external lighting treatments, and a dynamic and atmospheric space, reinforcing the gritty nature of the industrial imagery of the internal street.
      Retained external facades are punctuated with a grid of colour-changing LED luminaires. These correspond to the fenestration and form a unifying grid behind the layer of illuminated tenant signage. This 'signage zone' aims to create a Times Square feel of brash energy. The new facades feature a glazed wall housing 1,400 fluorescent battens with coloured sleeves. These switch on the hour in blocks to make different patterns. There are also moving-mirror scans projecting onto the pavement, and kinetic neon fixtures using 'flow' and 'crackle' tubes to evoke the building's heavy-industrial past. A giant video screen above the main entrance completes the dynamic exterior.
      The interior is effectively a theatrical black box, with no direct daylight. The lighting design has two components - conventional architectural treatments to the 'themed' facades, and high-level
      theatrical equipment to produce texture, colour and dynamic effects. The look of the streets and the Pumpyard changes throughout the day, becoming more kinetic as day moves into evening.
      As part of the dynamism of the interior the lighting control system also drives a giant fan and smoke machines concealed in drains and vents. The architecture and lighting effects are also complimented by a complex system of audio effects and background noise, as well as video and projection effects (designed by others). The whole development is an energetic and vibrant addition to Manchester's nightlife.

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