Robe lights tallest building in Africa for Xbox launch

South Africa:

Robe has used its BMFL moving lights to beam the Xbox logo onto the top floors of the Leonardo, the tallest building in Africa at 234m, to promote the launch of the new Microsoft Xbox Series X console. The lighting, crew and technical production were delivered by event technical specialists MSTARR working for event producers Penquin.

With socially distanced VIPs watching the event from the rooftop balcony of the nearby Radisson Blu Hotel on Rivonia Road, the green lights were clearly visible from all around the Sandton CBD and beyond. The lighting scheme was designed by Greg Angelo and MSTARR’s Gareth Chambers who chose Robe’s BMFL fixture because “it was the only fixture that could do the job and blast enough light across the 550m throw distance”.

The setup included 18 Robe BMFLs – six BMFL WashBeams and 12 BMFL Blades – installed in three different locations. The project involved getting the agreement of three separate buildings and their management and security companies – the Benmore Shopping Centre roof parking, the Sandton Gautrain station parking lot and the Radisson Hotel, which also had fixtures positioned on its roof.

Two BMFL WashBeams and four BMFL Blades were deployed in each location, an operation that included manually carrying the kit up staircases in some cases to reach the respective rooftop positions. Each set of luminaires was controlled locally by a grandMA Dot2 console. Three of the BMFL Blades were fitted with custom Xbox gobos for projecting a crisp, clear image onto the building, with local power used at the Radisson and the fixtures in the two parking lots running off generators. The setup was completed the day before the event and was also tested that evening. The Leonardo’s permanent LED architectural lighting scheme was also turned green for the event.