College student lights up Big Ben
For the first time ever, for one night only, St. Stephen's, the world famous tower housing the Big Ben bell was bathed in red light from base to spire to mark the start of Sport Relief on Friday 19th March.
This amazing sight was designed by lighting design student Simon Gray a level three student of the College, as his final year project.
Simon said:
"I wanted to take on the challenge of transforming a truly iconic building, and make people take a second look at a familiar landmark. Big Ben is one of the world's most famous images, and to many it represents London.
It was a natural choice to do this for Sport Relief, and I was delighted to be helping to raise awareness of this fantastic fundraising campaign".
Simon and his team of students from the Lighting Design and Lighting Programming courses at the College required special permission for the event from The Palace of Westminster, Metropolitan Police, the Borough of Southwark (the lighting was installed on the south side of the river), Transport for London, London Port Authority, Aviation and St. Thomas's Hospital!
This is the second year where students from the College have successfully collaborated with Sport Relief, having designed and installed the lighting last year for The Tower of London, The Stephen Lawrence Centre and Rose Bruford College.
Simon, his team and the College would like to thank the following organisations for their support:
• Jill Pay, Sergeant at Arms for the Houses of Parliament
• Port of London Authority
• Transport for London
• Lambeth Council
• Metropolitan Police
• Gemma Peers St. Thomas Hospital
With special thanks to the HSL Group who supplied all the lighting equipment for this event.
01/04/2010