Philips revitalizes Cairo’s iconic Opera House with spectacular connected LED lighting

Philips revitalizes Cairo’s iconic Opera House with spectacular connected LED lighting

Dec 1, 2015  | Electrical engineering 

Philips revitalizes Cairo’s iconic Opera House with spectacular connected LED lighting
(Photo by: Philips)

Philips 21st century connected LED lighting technology revitalises Cairo’s Opera House – bringing new life to this iconic building, whilst also reigniting cultural pride and saving energy.

The past five years the Philips Cape Town to Cairo roadshow has spread light across Africa improving and beautifying cities, and illuminating iconic landmarks.

On the occasion of Philips sixth consecutive Cape Town to Cairo roadshow, Philips today unveiled the newly illuminated Cairo Opera House. Philips has provided the Cairo Opera House with a stunning makeover that has radically boosted the beautification of this iconic building. By using its latest LED lighting technology, which has a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours1, Philips will enable the Opera House to reduce its energy consumption by up to 80% compared with conventional lighting currently used in the Opera House. 

Reigniting cultural pride 

The Cairo Opera House is a cultural landmark renowned for leadership, excellence and imagination. It has carved itself a significant position in the cultural landscape of Egypt and the Middle East. With its appealing mix of high-quality traditional events, and its unique venues as well as its state of the art facilities, the Cairo Opera House is exceptionally suited to fulfill its mission to become a representation of art in Egypt and across the world. 

Tamer Abol Ghar, Country Manager Egypt & General Manager Africa, Lighting Professional End User Sales, commented: “It is with great pride that we can today unveil the stunning LED makeover of the Cairo Opera House. The lighting not only magnifies the beauty of the renowned building, but it will also enable a significant reduction of energy consumption at the Opera House. As the global leader in LED lighting, we have made massive strides in recent years with regards LEDs, and it’s really quite remarkable to witness the effect the lighting of a building or a landmark can have on an entire city or region. We have no doubt that the people of Cairo will enjoy the Opera House for many more years to come, and hopefully as a result of the dynamic new lighting it will be seen in a completely new light not only by locals, but by the world.” 

Philips’ new lighting concept focused on highlighting the importance of the building as a source of cultural pride. Located in the southern part of Gezira Island, this iconic building now houses new Philips dynamic lighting, which ensures it is visible from anywhere up to half a kilometre away on the River Nile. The new Philips lighting design has guaranteed that the viewing points of the Opera House are the main feature, with light and shadow applied in such a way that the building’s structures are also emphasized. 

The initial challenge for Philips’ design team was to give the iconic Opera House a more innovative look while maintaining the authentic and historic atmosphere of the Opera House. The Philips team applied its innovative Vaya LED lights which create an endless spectrum of colors to highlight the features of this architectural masterpiece, and allowed Philips to introduce a vibrant ambience that changes depending on the performance happening inside the Opera House. 

The usage of intelligent RGB (Red, Green & Blue) flood lights on the façade of the Cairo Opera House turns the hall into a landmark that is highly attractive, adding visual comfort as well as an expressive environment at night. The domes of the building have been illuminated using intelligent RGB floodlights with wide beam angle to highlight the octagonal base shape. 

The entire project at the Cairo Opera House took Philips four months to complete – this included the design, implementation and installation of 160 Philips latest Color Kinetics Vaya LED RGB (Red, Green & Blue) Lighting luminaires. 

Ninth and final stop of the Cape Town to Cairo roadshow

Cairo marks the grand conclusion of Philips’ annual pan-African Cape Town to Cairo roadshow that kicked off on 11th May 2015, in Cape Town. Cairo is the ninth stop on the roadshow’s journey which covered 12,000 km across 11 cities and 8 countries over a period of 4.5 months. Cape Town to Cairo has gained significant momentum over the past five years, allowing Philips to get to the heart of some of the key issues facing Africa – including Mother and Child Care, the rise of non-communicable diseases, energy efficient LED and solar lighting solutions, as well as shining a spotlight on the need for clinical education and training. 

The 2015 roadshow continued to drive the conversation around sustainable energy solutions. As part of Philips dedication to improving healthcare in Africa many substantial innovations and partnerships were announced and Philips illuminated a number of iconic buildings, which will leave behind a permanent legacy, while also reducing energy consumption. 

Via Philips
Image,video ©: Philips