Shoreditch Trust

Physical Regeneration

Image for The Beacon

The Beacon

A zero-energy street lighting installation commissioned by Shoreditch Trust in partnership with neuroscientist Dr Beau Lotto

Shoreditch’s historic ‘More Light, More Power’ motto has been imaginatively reworked with the creation of an innovative zero-energy lighting installation to illuminate part of Old Street, in the heart of Shoreditch.

Commissioned by Shoreditch Trust, The Beacon is a multi-coloured tower by neuroscientist Dr Beau Lotto of Lottolab studio, built in collaboration with Enzo Fiondella of Creative Interactions and Kees van der Graaf of van der Graaf Studio.

The Beacon is at the very forefront of optical science and efficient use of solar energy. Dr Lotto, from University College London, has described the installation as “an experiment into exploring whether it is possible to turn the very ground we walk on into sites for generating energy – solar energy in this case.”

The Beacon consists of a combination of coloured Plexiglas and solar panels, mounted on a steel tower. The installation produces its own electricity through an array of solar panels, mounted at the top of the tower, and through innovative solar paving stones, which are made from photo voltaic cells, embedded in a mixture of recycled bottle glass and resin – manufactured in Hackney, from glass produced as a waste product in the borough.

During the day, a bank of batteries in the base of the installation will be charged up. At night, the batteries will use their stored-up solar power to light the tower from within. The Beacon will only be lit up at regular intervals according to the amount of energy stored in its batteries and foot traffic.

 

The Beacon in detail

  • The Beacon is a free-standing 6 x 1.2 metre tower made from coloured Plexiglas and solar panels.
  • Its upper 2.4 metres are covered on three sides by highly efficient solar panels; the lower 2.4 metres are made of sheets of coloured glass.
  • Mounted on each Plexiglas panel are smaller Plexiglass dots of a different colour – e.g. pink dots on orange panels, orange dots on pink panels. Each side of the tower brings together different combinations of colour.
  • The base of the tower is made of recycled brushed aluminium which sits within an arrangement of solar-panelled paving stones – ‘daisy-chained’ together to charge the tower’s batteries during the day.
  • A patent application has been submitted for the paving stones. They are made from locally recycled coloured glass, with each stone containing nine individual, high-efficiency solar panels.