Getting into a Spin

24-12-2014

We have to get used to the introduction of new terms in the Lexicon of Modern Living, but sometimes it just gets too confusing. And when the new meaning overlaps with an old meaning, all logic and sense takes a holiday. Why ever should a Sports Club in Bournemouth want to introduce a spinning class to its 2015 health programme? I know about spinning; I'm married to a textile designer and she belongs to the Dorset Guild of Spinners Weavers and Dyers - so I know all about that. But no, this is about bikes. Well - I'm a cyclist (we both belong to the Dorset Cyclists' Network) so I know all about that as well. Ah - but its not those kind of bikes - this is a bike with just the one wheel (what is this - circus skills now??)

Of course, we eventually get to the bottom of this new exercise regimen; a kind of not-going-out-in-the-wet-and-the-cold type of cycling and being shouted at while you're peddling very quickly and listeing to loud pounding music.
Hmmmm.

OK - I start to get the picture, now all we have to do is work out the lighting brief. I think the loud pounding music may give us the clue we're looking for.
The solution is to meld together an architectural solution (even Spin Studios need vacuuming and wiping down) with a bit of the old techno-disco scene (and who am I trying to kid here?)
Once we'd decided that turning the studio into a grunge palace wasn't such a good idea, the design process started to gel around a hybrid lighting fixture - just wrap it up, keep it tidy, and keep it smart. Which is what we did.

This may surprise people, but I'm not a great fan of light fittings. I love what they do, obviously, but I usually get irritated by their inability to do the thing that I expect from them. After all, why shouldn't I be able to find a modular in-set ceiling fixture that's also capable of combining white light with RGB effects lighting. So let's just design one.

This little beauty has three components to it:
1. the basic fixture is a 600x600 LED light panel (edge-lit, for reasons that will become obvious)
2. three LED downlights set into the panel: one RED; one GREEN, one BLUE (for dramatic effect)
3. a prismatic difuser slung under the whole thing to catch the RGB rays and create wonderful effects with them.
Like this:

The overall scene look like this:

and when the Sound-to-Light unit gets going, it means that the patrons get immersed in this:

A few words of thanks for getting this little beauty off the ground and into the air:
LED light GURU for the LED light panel
Commercial Lighting Systems for the RGB downlights
Penhale Quantock for the prismatic diffuser
MODE Lighting (UK) Ltd for the ColourStyle controls

and many many thanks to West Hants Sports Club for having the strength of character to go with such a crazy idea.