In an Awards luncheon held Wednesday 16th September, at Trinity House in London, three finalists were joined by their employers and stakeholders from across the sector to celebrate their achievements. The other two finalists were Samuel Leonard of P A Collacott & Co and Ethan Timmins, employed by Derry Building Services.

Remi was selected as this year’s winner after impressing the judging panel in her application and interview. She demonstrated a strong commitment to the future of the electrotechnical industry and exemplified the qualities that make her an excellent role model for her colleagues, peers and future entrants to the industry.

As the winner of the ECA Edmundson Apprentice of the Year 2026, Remi Newman takes home prizes including a £3,000 cash reward, an overseas study tour in Dornbirn in Austria and VIP tickets to the ECA Industry Awards in October.

ECA Member business Essex Services Group Ltd, Remi’s employer, is also recognised, receiving a one-year BSI subscription and a one-year Electrical OM Licence worth more than £300.

Keith Sanderson, ECA’s Head of Education and Skills said: “This year’s Edmundson Awards candidates were of the highest standard and all performed to an extremely high level. The independent judging panel undertook a challenging and rigorous shortlisting process to determine the finalists for this year’s awards.

Congratulations to the well-deserving winner, Remi, and also to Samuel, Ethan and all of those who entered this year’s awards. It is clear that the future of the industry is in good hands.”

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That thinking shaped the first-floor customer environment and the lighting brief behind it.

TRILUX worked with GRIDSERVE and Dave Dickinson & Associates Limited (DDA) to develop a lighting scheme capable of supporting the different activities taking place across the floor. Creating a warm, relaxed environment was central to the brief, particularly within the lounge and seating areas, while the adjoining retail and food and beverage spaces required lighting suited to more active customer environments.

The challenge was therefore not simply to illuminate one large space, but to use light to give each area its own character while ensuring the floor worked as a whole.

Rather than applying a uniform lighting treatment across the first floor, the scheme responds to how customers use each area.

A combination of 3,000K and 4,000K colour temperatures helps establish subtle changes in atmosphere across the space. Warmer light supports the more relaxed character of lounge and seating areas, while 4,000K configurations provide a brighter visual environment where appropriate.

The distinction helps reinforce the transition between different activities without relying on physical separation. Customers can move naturally between shopping, eating and taking a break, with lighting contributing to the change in mood and function.

This approach also supports an important part of the GRIDSERVE brief: creating an environment specific to Markham Vale while retaining the familiar quality and character of its wider Electric Forecourt network.

Yuvio forms the principal lighting family across the customer-facing environment, with Yuvio Track and Yuvio Twin used in different configurations.

Yuvio Track uses free-form lens technology to provide precise, controlled light distribution, with different beam characteristics available to suit the requirements of the space. Yuvio Twin adds a two-head configuration with oval light distribution, enabling broader areas to be illuminated while retaining the same compact visual language.

At Markham Vale, the combination allows focused and wider distributions to work together across the floor rather than relying on a single lighting effect.

The extensive use of suspended track provides another practical advantage. Luminaires can be positioned and directed according to the layout below, while the system provides flexibility should retail displays, furniture arrangements or other requirements change over time.

Supporting luminaires from the wider TRILUX portfolio provide lighting within back-of-house, circulation and ancillary areas, while TRILUX also supplied emergency lighting as part of the scheme.

TRILUX secured the project through a combination of its proposed lighting solution, commercial approach and an established relationship with the project team.

Working closely with GRIDSERVE and DDA, TRILUX developed the scheme around the architectural layout, operational requirements and relevant brand and franchise considerations. This collaborative approach helped translate the initial brief into a practical lighting solution spanning the varied functions of the first floor.

For GRIDSERVE, the finished installation delivers the coverage and visual quality required while supporting the premium customer environment envisioned for Markham Vale.

Markham Vale reflects how the growth of electric mobility is changing the role of places encountered during a journey. Charging creates time away from the vehicle – and an opportunity to make that time more comfortable and useful.

Here, lighting is part of that experience. Rather than treating the first floor as a single environment, the scheme responds to how people shop, eat, relax and move through the space.

Chris Ward, Retail Operations Manager at GRIDSERVE, said: “Markham Vale was about creating more than somewhere to stop and charge. We wanted the first-floor space to feel like a premium lounge environment, while still meeting the very different needs of the retail areas. The lighting needed to help define those spaces, create the right atmosphere and, importantly, maintain the consistency customers recognise from our other Electric Forecourts. We’re really pleased with the coverage and the overall look and feel that’s been achieved.”

The result is a place designed not simply around charging vehicles, but around the people waiting for them.

Client/end user: GRIDSERVE.

Lighting design/project partner: Dave Dickinson & Associates Limited (DDA).
Lighting: TRILUX.

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Tasked with designing lighting this landmark event was visual design agency Blackout, who have been working with Joker Out since 2021. The lighting design team was led by Klemen Krajnc with Crt Birsa taking care of key lighting, and they chose to work with a large rig of Robe moving lights.

This included a set of 32 brand-new Robe GigaPointes, which had just been delivered to rental company Event Lighting. Also on the rig were 13 Robe FORTES, 6 iFORTE LTXs, 37 MegaPointes, 49 iSpiiderXs wash beams and 14 Tetra2 moving LED battens.

The band picked the spherical-shaped stage and worked with set designer Maja Moravec on creating various circus props, intricate draping and other scenic elements to evoke the Big Top look, including the band risers onstage. The central arched stage was flanked by wings dressed to resemble circus tents and some of the guest performers were aerialists and other circus acts.

Klemen added the lights to this stage layout, which were overhead and around the sides of the stage structure and on eight independent scaffolding towers, six behind the stage – graduated in height but all taller than the stage and wings so they were visible over the top – plus left and right PA towers framing the central section just in front of the stage.

The GigaPointes were on the deck, positioned along the full width of the front edge of the 70-metre-wide, 2-metre high stage, including the two wings and the wing returns at each end. All of these sat on a ledge half a metre below stage level.

These were used primarily for creating dramatic effects and reaching out across the arena with their super-bright narrow piercing beams… with huge impact for the epic wide-look visual aesthetic.

Klemen – using GigaPointes for the first time – declared, “They are fantastic!”

In a programming context, he mentioned that it is “extremely handy” that they can be exchanged, swapped or paired parameter-for-parameter with MegaPointes, which will also continue to be a favourite fixture for many for some time. “This makes it a very smooth and seamless transition from MegaPointes to GigaPointes,” he confirmed.

Twenty-seven of the 37 MegaPointes were rigged on nine over-stage finger trusses – running in an upstage/downstage orientation with different heights following the curvature of the roof arch, and the other 10 were upstage in a straight line.

Klemen worked these and the GigaPointes together to create some of the show’s most memorable lighting scenes.

Fourteen Robe Tetra2 LED battens were used to illuminate the stage wing set elements, rigged on the floor for optimal up lighting of the vertical parts of the set.

Twenty-seven iSpiiderXs were also on the finger trusses – three per truss. Another 18 were used for lower side light across the sphere stage, nine per side, running front to back on low parts of the stage structure.

Four iSpiiderXs were used for front key lighting for the static members of the band in two high cantilevered positions on the downstage sides of the stage structure; two for the drummer and one each for the keyboardist and backing vocalists on their risers.

These were under Crt’s control for the show. He additionally layered in more keys using a combination of the 6 iFORTE LTXs and 13 FORTES, for lighting the mobile band members plus several guests.

The side keys onstage utilised four FORTES, two each positioned on the far stage left and right (of the 8) towers and throwing onto the front of the stage, covering the performance areas at the front of the wings, the central stage apron and the thrust area/runway.

This was a long throw, perfect for the power of the FORTE.

On the two delay towers left and right of FOH were 8 FORTES, and the thirteenth FORTE was rigged in the mid front position on the sphere stage to back light performers as they sashayed down the central catwalk.

Above the FORTES on the delay towers were 6 iFORTE LTXs, three per side, programmed to catch all the onstage, forestage, wing and runway action. The 6 x iFORTE LTXs were running on 5 RoboSpot systems – the BaseStations were under the stage – and Crt notes that most of the time he only needed to run the LTXs at 50 percent intensity to be effective on camera and live.

Klemen’s main task was to make the show look spectacular and celebratory, while giving it the sense of scale and occasion that everyone was expecting, and that’s why he chose these Robe products plus several other lights for the show – for their flexibility and dynamics. Also, naturally because Event Lighting – one of the busiest rental companies in Slovenia – had these in stock.

Everyone was then super excited when they realised the GigaPointes would be delivered in time!

Klemen and Crt pre-vizzed the show as much as was practical and on site had two days of intense programming with the full rig.

However, the main challenge for this show was nothing technical or artistic – it was… the weather! Ljubljana is situated in a wide, flat basin known as the Ljubljana Basin (Ljubljanska kotlina), surrounded by hills and mountains, and this has its own microclimate.

An extremely violent thunderstorm complete with torrential rain unleashed itself a couple of hours before Joker Out were due to take the stage… resulting in extensive flooding and emergency adaptations being needed on the site.

Some elements of the kit were drenched and waterlogged and some of the upstage back drapes were ripped off by the high winds and had to be reattached as best as possible.

Thankfully, in the spirit of ‘the show must go on’ and some outstanding teamwork, everything was deemed safe and 17,000 Joker Out fans were able to enjoy a spectacular show with eye-popping visuals, thanks to a combination of determination, great production talents and imagination, ambitious design and solid products.

Image credits: Sasa Krajnc and Miro Majcen.

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Advanced lighting control technology from Pharos Architectural Controls has been used to illuminate the facade of the Parliament of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, delivering a flexible and considered solution for one of the city’s most important heritage buildings. The project replaces an ageing sodium vapour floodlighting scheme with a more refined approach that reveals the texture and detail of the sandstone architecture.

Completed in early 2026, the project marks the culmination of a long development process that began in 2014, when FPOV was first commissioned by the Victorian Government to explore an illuminated treatment for the building. Dating back to 1888, the Parliament of Victoria occupies a prominent position at the northern end of Melbourne’s CBD. The brief called for a lighting solution that would respect the building’s heritage while presenting its architecture in a more natural light.

The previous scheme relied on sodium vapour floodlights mounted at a shallow angle, producing an even wash of light that flattened the facade and masked much of its detail. The strong colour cast of the source also altered the appearance of the sandstone, reducing the clarity of the building at night.

The new design set out to correct this by presenting the building more faithfully, while keeping the installation discreet and visually unobtrusive. It also needed to reduce maintenance demands, improve efficiency, and allow the facade to be lit in neutral white for everyday use, with the option of colour for civic occasions.

Over the course of the project, the design was refined through a number of external and technical challenges, including changes in government, budget adjustments, pandemic-related testing delays and advances in LED technology. As a result, the specification was reviewed several times to ensure the final system remained robust and future ready.

At the core of the installation are two Pharos Designer LPC controllers providing a total of four universes of DMX. Two 8-inch Pharos Designer TPS touchscreens allow authorised users to manage scene selection and colour changes when required. The system is connected to Pharos Cloud for simple, secure remote management and control. Integration with Dynalite is also used for power management, helping the system operate efficiently within the wider building infrastructure.

The result is a facade lighting scheme that brings greater subtlety and control to the presentation of the Parliament building, revealing its material qualities more clearly while replacing a dated and overbearing approach to illumination.

Christopher Page, Associate at FPOV, said, “Working with Pharos allowed us to deliver a reliable control platform with the flexibility and ease of use needed to support both daily operation and longer-term adaptation of the scheme.”

Tony Symms, Regional Manager for Asia Pacific at Pharos, added, “This project demonstrates how intelligent control can support the sensitive illumination of heritage architecture. The system combines reliability and flexibility, ensuring the facade can be presented consistently while still allowing for moments of variation.”

The project demonstrates how advanced control technology can help heritage buildings balance preservation with performance, delivering lighting schemes that are both practical to operate and sensitive to architectural character.

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The production took place at the 1,250-seat La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, one of Southern California’s most highly lauded venues and home to McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s annual season of theatrical productions.

“Mean Girls” is a witty modern classic rich in social commentary, written by Tina Fey. It ran on Broadway for over two years, earned twelve nominations at the 72nd Tony Awards (including Best Musical), and has since toured extensively. For Young, whose collaboration with McCoy Rigby Entertainment spans two decades, the comedic production is one he has engaged with for years.

McCoy Rigby Entertainment, founded by Tom McCoy and Olympic gymnast and actress Cathy Rigby, has produced seasons at La Mirada Theatre for decades. Young, who joined Visual Terrain in 2007, has lit over 30 productions at the venue.

Evolving Technology at La Mirada Theatre

Young’s prior work on “The King and I” at La Mirada in 2023, in which he used Elation’s Proteus Lucius LED profile moving head, directly influenced the theatre’s decision to invest in Proteus Odeon fixtures the following year.

“The King and I really demonstrated what the Elation fixtures could do for the space,” Young explains. “It became the catalyst for La Mirada investing in the Odeons, which came out on top following a shootout and have since become a core part of their inventory.” The Odeons were sold to the theatre by Pacific Coast Entertainment.

La Mirada’s ongoing technical upgrades are led by Master Electrician Melissa “Mo” Skau, who has been instrumental in modernising the venue’s production infrastructure. “There’s been a diligent effort on Mo’s part to create a better working environment for visiting designers,” Young adds, “and this was part of that effort.”

Elation fixtures at the core of the design

Young describes “Mean Girls” as deceptively complex—fast-paced, intricate, and far more demanding than it first appears. While its high-energy, quirky humour makes it entertaining, beneath the surface lies a sharp comedic exploration of high school social hierarchies.

To light “Mean Girls,” Young deployed a blend of house and rental inventory: 17 Proteus Odeon house fixtures installed across four electrics, 6 Paragon S fixtures rented from BCT Entertainment positioned on stage booms, and Pulse Bar units supplied by Elation for evaluation and creative use.

The Proteus Odeon were a central element of the design, valued for their output, silent operation, and low voltage draw. “They’re very punchy at 32,000 lumens, and what we really liked about them initially was how silent they are,” says Young, who values a noiseless fixture in theatre. He also notes the benefit of running them at 120 volts. “We didn’t have to run extra power, install a new disconnect, or add any additional electrical infrastructure, so it really simplified the installation for them.”

Young highlighted the fixture’s TruTone variable CRI engine, which allows designers to achieve up to CRI 93. “We worked in CRI Flex mode, which was really helpful because the project included both naturalistic looks and more heightened theatrical moments with increased brightness. The difference isn’t as important when lighting scenery, but when it comes to skin tones, color rendering becomes much more critical.”

Sculpting story with light 

Young used most of the Odeon’s design tools and graphics to shape environments and transitions, including framing, gobos, and animation. “The framing shutters allowed us to create ‘boxes’ that we used extensively, for example in the high school classroom space, runways, and other small areas. We also used all of the gobos that came with it and tried to vary the looks as much as possible.”

A key moment in the show, the song “World Burn,” was enhanced using the fixture’s animation wheel to create fire-like movement across the stage, while frosts delivered a soft wash that Young says “came in very handy.”

The Paragon S fixtures were used as side lighting from booms, three per side, chosen for their design features, as well as smaller footprint and weight advantages. “The Odeons were too heavy for boom positions, so the Paragon S was the perfect solution for the tight set – smaller and about half the weight,” says Young. “They’re compact, the perfect size for a boom, but still give a great deal of punch.”

Used in extended mode, the Paragons provided sharp gobo projection and flexible focus control.

“We were able to cut the light off the floor but still light the actors and some of the scenery with them,” Young explains. “It was nice to have sharp, focused gobos on people during transitions, and then when the scene started, we would throw those gobos out of focus so that they created a soft wash. It was great to use some of the fixture’s focus capabilities to help reinforce the story.”

Young describes how the Pulse Bar fixtures were used to recreate and reinterpret one of the show’s most iconic visual moments. “In the original Broadway production, there’s a moment where the main character photocopies different parts of a book, and the light from the Xerox machine was such an iconic look. We wanted to do something different, so we used a phone with a giant strobe flash from the Pulse Bars across the stage. The actor was lit with a bit of sidelight and a follow spot, and then that flash would hit. It was brilliant and ended up being incredibly successful.”

The moment was executed in white light using the Pulse Bar’s cool white LEDs, while elsewhere in the show Young also used their RGB capabilities to color other scenes.

Colour play was also a defining element of the design, particularly the show’s signature pink palette.

“There are so many variations of pink in the show,” Young notes. “We used eight different shades, ranging from very deep pink to very light pinks, so that we were so close to skin tones it was barely noticeable. The colour could be very bold, but also incredibly subtle. We really had to mix those and the Elation fixtures did that wonderfully.”

“Mean Girls” ran from 11th April – 3rd May at the La Mirada Theatre with critics praising the lighting and visual design as standout elements that supported both the story and the show’s fast-paced energy.

“Mean Girls” credits

Lighting Design: Visual Terrain, Inc.

Lighting Designer: Steven Young, USA-829.

Assistant Lighting Designer: Madeline Miller.

Master Electrician: Melissa “Mo” Skau.

Director/Choreographer: Dana Solimando.

Associate Director/Choreographer: Rodrigo Varandas.

Scenic Design: Stephen Gifford.

Projection Design: David Murakami.

Costume Coordinator: Adam Ramirez.

Venue: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Producer: Tom McCoy, McCoy Rigby Entertainment.

Photographers: Jason Niedle & Stephen Gifford.

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The DALI Alliance will host the first-ever Global DALI Summit + Expo, DALI 27, on 23rd – 24th February 2027 at the Supernova area in the Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, the Netherlands. DALI 27 will connect experts from across the lighting, smart buildings, and smart cities sectors to shape the future of digital lighting control. The event will establish a new international forum for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation, bringing together the global DALI ecosystem. DALI 27 will conclude in a gala dinner featuring the 2027 DALI Lighting Awards, which recognize outstanding projects and achievements in DALI-based lighting control.

DALI 27 combines the DALI Alliance General Assembly with a conference and expo for lighting designers, manufacturers, system integrators, and technology providers. The program will feature keynote presentations, panel discussions, technical sessions, case studies, and an expo showcasing the latest DALI technologies and solutions. Networking events throughout DALI 27 will provide opportunities for professionals to connect and exchange ideas.

“DALI 27 brings together experts from across the lighting, smart buildings, and smart cities value chains to advance interoperable digital lighting control,” says Paul Drosihn, General Manager of the DALI Alliance. “For the first time, we are bringing the global DALI ecosystem together for a dedicated summit and expo to share knowledge, strengthen partnerships, and inspire innovation.”

DALI 27 will open on Tuesday morning, 23rd February 2027, at the centrally located venue in Utrecht. Located just 30 minutes by direct train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and a five-minute walk from Utrecht Centraal Station, the venue provides convenient access for attendees traveling from around the world. Throughout the two-day event, sponsors and partner companies will showcase their latest technologies and solutions in the Expo. The full conference program will be announced in fall 2026, with registration details, ticket options, and participation fees to follow. Companies and industry experts interested in presenting, exhibiting, or sponsoring DALI 27 are encouraged to contact the DALI Alliance.

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Eastbourne has one of the UK’s largest ageing populations. Thousands of residents live with sight impairment or visual accessibility challenges, making safe navigation through busy public spaces an important consideration within the town centre. Street furniture and poorly positioned obstacles can create significant difficulties and reduce confidence when moving around independently.

To help address these challenges, an accessibility-focused streetscape project was developed along the Victoria Place section of Terminus Road. The project was funded by Eastbourne Borough Council using Levelling Up Funds, working with East Sussex Highways, a partnership between Balfour Beatty Living Places and East Sussex County Council who were delivering the scheme The busy pedestrian route connects Eastbourne railway station with the seafront and is heavily used by both residents and visitors. Improving accessibility along this key route became an important part of the wider redevelopment works.

Attention was also given to how lighting columns would appear in different conditions, from bright summer daylight through to darker winter evenings.

James Powis, Key Accounts Manager, CU Phosco explains: “This project was very different from a conventional column installation because accessibility considerations were central to the design process from the outset. Working closely with East Sussex Vision Support allowed the team to better understand the day-to-day challenges faced by blind and partially sighted pedestrians and how street furniture placement and visibility can directly affect confidence and safety within public spaces.

The consultation process included site walk-throughs, discussions around pedestrian movement and demonstrations showing how different visual impairments affect visibility in real-world environments. That feedback played an important role in shaping the final column arrangement and banding approach.”

CU Phosco supplied 21 lighting columns for the pilot scheme. A mixture of 5m and 8m columns were installed throughout the route. To remain in keeping with the wider Eastbourne streetscape aesthetic, the team incorporated Heritage brackets in the final design.

One of the key features of the project was the introduction of yellow banding at multiple heights on the columns. Positioned at head, chest and waist height, the bands were designed to improve visibility for pedestrians with varying levels of sight impairment.

The choice of yellow was informed through consultation with accessibility groups and wider guidance around visual impairment. Yellow is widely recognised as one of the most visible colours for people with reduced vision and remains distinguishable across changing light conditions and varying levels of sight loss.

James continues: “Column placement was another important factor within the scheme. The team carefully considered pathway widths, pedestrian pinch points and the movement of guide dog users to help create a route that felt safer and easier to navigate.

While the project maintained the visual character of the surrounding environment, accessibility remained a priority throughout the design process.”

The completed scheme provides a more accessible pedestrian environment for blind and partially sighted users in the town centre. By improving the visibility of street furniture and carefully considering column positioning, the project aims to increase both physical safety and user confidence within a busy public realm setting.

Steve Saunders, Campaigner Quality and Access Lead from East Sussex Vision Support commented: “You listened. It was important that this approach was carried through so that this seafront town is accessible to all. It makes a massive difference to visually impaired people and we hope to see similar schemes rolled out across East Sussex and beyond.”

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Taking place on 8th October at The Minster Building in London, the event will explore the practical steps the lighting industry needs to take, to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. The programme includes keynote presentations, panel discussions, case studies and interactive sessions covering topics such as product design, remanufacturing, reuse, recycling, carbon literacy, and the latest policy and standards developments.

The event is sponsored by Light Projects Evolve (as headline sponsor) and Thorlux, Albis, Fagerhult, WAGO, Lumi Studio, and DRK Lighting Remedies.  Their support means that tickets are free for lighting specifiers.

Nigel Harvey, Chief Executive of Recolight, said: “We are delighted that the list of lighting specifiers already registered to attend reads like a who’s who of leading lighting designers and end users. They include representatives from Aecom, Arup, Buro Happold, CBRE, Hoare Lea, Introba, Michael Grubb Studios, City of London, Max Fordham, Nulty, ORMS, Overbury, Atkins Realis, RD Group, Blackmoon, DPA, Circalume, and 18 degrees.”

Circular Lighting Live host Ray Molony, added: “The circular economy is moving from aspiration to reality within the lighting sector. The programme for Circular Lighting Live reflects that momentum, bringing together some of the industry’s most knowledgeable and influential speakers. Attendees will gain practical insights, hear real-world success stories and have the opportunity to connect with others who are driving change. If your organisation is serious about sustainability and resource efficiency, this is an event not to be missed.”

Tickets are available at https://circularlighting.live/ with a limited number of free lighting designer tickets remaining.

A1 Lighting are proud media partners of Circular Lighting Live.

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