June, 2025 – A brand-new car park facility in Cardiff is making a dramatic impact as night falls, thanks to an illuminated façade controlled by Pharos Architectural Controls.
As a key part of the vibrant Central Quay development in Cardiff, the eight-story car park is immediately notable for its sleek and contemporary design. The facility boasts an enviable location, next to the central station. Offering spacious parking, electric vehicle charging stations and bicycle racks, the site supports effortless transitions between different modes of transport as well as Cardiff’s soon to be completed metro line.
A concept was created to illuminate the façade of the new facility, adding to the site’s appeal and making it visually striking during darker hours. The contractor for the project, Goldbeck Construction Ltd, partnered with leading LED lighting solutions provider, LITE, to specify and supply the technology to fulfil the design. The lighting needed to be fully programmable and colour controllable, so LITE turned to lighting controls specialists Pharos Architectural Controls, specifying solutions from their Designer range.
The LITE team selected a Pharos Designer LPC 4 (Lighting Playback Controller 4) as the ideal solution for the project, in conjunction with a 5G router for remote connectivity. A trusted partner of Pharos, LITE were able to specify the best technology for the installation, underpinned by a recognition of the reliability and unrivalled capability of the control solutions.
The installation is connected to Pharos Cloud, providing simple, secure remote lighting installation control and management, from any Internet-connected device, anytime, anywhere in the world.
The Designer LPC features individually controllable and independently running timelines and scenes. It offers the freedom of real-time manual overrides, with the versatility of powerful show control and integration features. With its compact form, robust construction and minimal power requirements, the LPC can be installed virtually anywhere.
The LPC is controlling a high number of Studio Due luminaires – in total, 88 of the manufacturer’s RGBW Compactbar 150cm solution were used on the installation. Through the LPC, the lighting can be changed effortlessly from one colour to another, while multiple colours, patterns and arrays are also available at the touch of a button.
An on-site demonstration was carried out with the selected products part-way through the car park’s construction, at which the detailed definition and highlighting of the surface textures not only satisfied but exceeded the brief for all key stakeholders.
Ryan Sainsbury, Regional Sales Manager for UK & Northern Europe at Pharos Architectural Controls said: “While it is easy to think of a car park simply as a functional facility, the vision for Central Quay’s development has seen beyond that. The lighting during darkness is a stunning addition to the area, bringing an array of colours that are incredibly visually appealing. The LPC is the ideal solution for a lighting project on this scale, so we are delighted our technology has been chosen to deliver these remarkable results.
Paul Taylor, Director at LITE added: “When exploring the brief for a fully programmable and colour controllable lighting system at the Central Quay car park, we immediately knew the LPC from Pharos Architectural Controls would deliver everything we needed. The power and versatility of the LPC never ceases to impress us. From its reliability to its custom web interfaces, compact form and minimal power requirements, we are always completely confident in specifying the Designer LPC to our clients.”
The result is clear for all to see – the visual effects champion the architecture, adding to the appeal of Cardiff as a place to live, work and visit even as darkness falls. Learn more about Pharos Architectural Controls.
Photography – Matt Cant
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