Canberra’s Captain Cook Fountain Lights Up

“The jet was designed to be lit when operating at night and the original lighting system wasn’t as efficient as it could be”, explains Malcolm Snow, the National Capital Authority’s Chief Executive.

The ULA Group worked with lighting design team from Norman Disney Young along with Shepherd Electrical in Canberra to specify, commission and install the new LED high-powered lighting system. The Project brief was to deliver a lighting system which is able to enhance the dynamics of the Captain Cook water Jet Fountain in full. The Anolis ArcSource Outdoor 48MC fixtures were selected as the perfect fit for this project. These fixtures carry an IP67 rating, making them ideal for outdoor lighting applications exposed to any water elements. Benefiting from a cleverly designed totally flush mounted ‘Watch Glass’ frontage, the units are far less likely to suffer from a build-up of debris, ensuring greater performance and lower maintenance.

Eleven fixtures with 11deg optics were mounted to the fountain structure, with the control infrastructure consisting of both cable and Wireless DMX transmission which was powered via a central LumenRadio Transmitter and multiple receiver units built into the luminaires. The dynamic show and static lighting states were enabled via Pharos LPC Control unit.

“With this new lighting technology we now have the ability to be able to light up the jet much more effectively, to change the colour and distribution of the light so that the night time dynamics of the jet can be appreciated,” comments Snow. “We now have the ability to enhance the water feature for special occasions and events, when we want to celebrate a special day on Canberra’s calendar”.

The first opportunity to view the Memorial Jet at its full height and light was during the Canberra Day Celebrations on 13th of March. A huge crowd of ‘Canberrians’ got down to Lake Burley Griffin to take in the night time spectacle.

The Memorial Jet current operates daily from 11am to 2pm using one pump at the height of 114 metres, and will be boosted to two pumps reaching the heights of 152 metres and featuring the new lighting effects at night time for Canberra’s significant events, special visits and state occasions.