Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow, a statue commemorating the historical shipbuilding industry of Port Glasgow and Lower Clyde, was officially unveiled in Glasgow, Scotland, on June 24, 2023. The 33-foot-tall statue depicts two shipbuilders posed with hammers in midswing — a design from artist John McKenna that was selected through a public vote.
The installation, commissioned by Riverside Inverclyde and Inverclyde Council, features dynamic lighting that illuminates the statue with different colors to suit various holidays, events, and causes like organ donation week and dementia awareness week. Lightfolio Ltd.’s Reg Grove, who designed the lighting for the project, selected Studio Due Archiled LED fixtures to create the desired effects.
The ability to change the color of the lights was one of the top priorities when designing the project. Pharos Architectural Controls supplied its Designer Lighting Playback Controller (LPC), which allows for customizable pre-programmed lighting. The LPC supports LEDs in any color configuration and allows park staff to schedule different lighting timelines. The device also features control and integration capabilities, real-time manual override, flexible multizone control, and prioritization.
U.K.-based Lee Engineering Ltd. programmed the installation’s LPC with a custom-built interface that allows remote users to control the lighting. A Pharos Designer Button Panel Station (BPS) was installed for onsite control.
Lighting and landscaping were added to the site of the statue in stages, with the initial installation occurring in 2022. During the statue’s design phase, the design team performed testing to ensure the position and focus of the fixtures would not impact the surroundings, including nearby housing and roads.
According to a June article by the local Inverclyde Council, the sculpture has “proven very popular among the local population as well as day-trippers, passers-by, and particularly with amateur and professional photographers.”
