The Brief

Celebrating the centenary of World War One, HMS President was repainted using the Dazzle effect, a camouflage first used in the war. Halo was asked to design and install a lighting system that would illuminate the camouflage and ship. Halo won the competitive tender from the Imperial War Museum for this installation as we were the only ones to find a viable solution to the many challenges.

The Installation

To fully light up the ship, our team installed sleek black PVC extrusion channels around the ship on three levels outrigged with discreet black metal rods fastened to the sides of decks with flange clamps. Ultra high-powered LED tape was then fitted inside these extrusions and set to a very cool white colour to highlight the patterned camouflage. These were controlled via a photocell on the roof of the ship so that they would come on when it got dark but conserved power during the day.

The Challenges

The first challenge was to install an electrical system aboard a ship with all the restrictions and H&S issues it presented. The second and most formidable one was to provide bright and even illumination over curved shapes without resorting to heavy handed rigging solutions which would have affected the integrity of the ship’s design. The third challenge was to provide lighting which would be safe and resilient within a public area.