Rundle Lantern FAQs
1. What is the purpose of the Rundle Lantern?
The purpose of the Rundle Lantern is to invigorate and enliven the intersection of Pulteney Street and Rundle Mall. This is achieved through the delivery of an arresting and unusual architectural form in the daylight hours, which transforms into an illuminated cultural canvas from dusk until midnight. The project was initiated as a response to a recommendation within Adelaide City’s urban master plan to create a convergence point at the described intersection. The vision for the Rundle Lantern was to create an urban design solution that ‘Adds Beauty to People’s Lives’.
2. What are the technical specifications of the Rundle Lantern?
The Rundle Lantern is located at the eastern junction of Rundle Mall and faces two of Adelaide’s premier street frontages - Rundle and Pulteney. The Rundle Lantern will operate each night, from dusk to midnight, and for special events the hours will be extended. Illumination of the Rundle Lantern is through 17,952 light emitting diodes (LED) configured as 5.984 of each colour – red, green and blue through 1496 units that contain 12 clusters of red, green and blue LED’s each.
The LED’s can create any configuration of 16 million colours that are reflected upwards onto 748 aluminium panels of 1.1 m X 1 m.
The total size of the Lantern is 1,066 square metres (nine levels high), transforming the fascia of the Upark carpark on Rundle Street into a light and colour extravaganza.
The Rundle Lantern can be programmed to display simple numbers, letters and geometric shapes as well as an infinite array of lights, colours and morphing designs, patterns and scheduled light shows.
3. Where is the Rundle Lantern located?
The Rundle Lantern is located at the end of Rundle Mall, on the South Eastern corner of Pulteney and Rundle Streets.
4. Why was this location chosen for the Rundle Lantern?
This location was identified as a potential convergence point in the Adelaide City Council’s urban design Masterplan, to improve and activate connection between the Rundle Mall retail precinct and the entertainment precinct of lower Rundle Street.
5. Who designed the Rundle Lantern?
The Rundle Lantern was designed by Fusion, an agency for the digital age, that focuses on creating innovative brand experiences.
6. Who built the Rundle Lantern?
Russell Group completed the physical construction of the Rundle Lantern.
7. How were the designers and builders chosen?
The designers of the Rundle Lantern (Fusion) were invited to participate in competitive design tender by the Adelaide City Council’s Urban Design team, along with five other companies/consortia. Fusion and another company were then selected to develop their respective concepts further in terms of refinement and feasibility. The Adelaide City Council then made a decision to move forward with Fusion’s final design.
8. Can you screen events and movies on the Rundle Lantern?
The pixilation does not support movie and TV type broadcasts.
9. Who can provide input into content for the Rundle Lantern?
The Adelaide City Council is in the process of preparing content guidelines that will be available to the public online at www.adelaidecitycouncil.com from December 2008. These guidelines will convey what is appropriate content, how the community can be involved with the Rundle Lantern, and the content decision making process. To ensure content is vibrant and evolving, the Adelaide City Council has developed a program of content for the first 12 months which will be a variety of self generating and special event content.
10. What hours will the Rundle Lantern turn on?
The Rundle Lantern will be illuminated from dusk until midnight, year round. For special events in the City this may be extended.
11. Will you see images on the Rundle Lantern during the day?
Images cannot be screened during daylight hours so the Lantern will appear as a large contemporary architectural form.
12. How often will the Rundle Lantern content be changed?
The technology will generate a continuously changing display which will interplay with civic and festival content.
13. How much DID the Rundle Lantern cost to build?
The project cost for the Rundle Lantern was approximately $2 million.
14. What will the Rundle Lantern cost to maintain?
The Rundle Lantern maintenance costs are a combination of electricity consumption, content management, upkeep of hardware and software, administration and marketing costs. This has an approximate combined value of $75,000 per year.
15. Who paid to build the Rundle Lantern?
The Adelaide City Council has funded the design and construction of the Rundle Lantern.
16. Who will pay to maintain the Rundle Lantern?
The Adelaide City Council will be responsible for all maintenance of the Rundle Lantern.
17. What is the environmental impact of the project?
Daily, the Lantern will use 149.1 kilowatt hours of electricity which will cost $37.30 in electricity including a $7.50 green power premium to offset the 150.5 kg of CO2-e carbon emissions - the equivalent of 48 Plasma TV's.
18. Are there any traffic or safety implications of it being situated at an intersection?
The traffic impact has been reviewed and the anticipated impact on motorists and pedestrians has been gauged to be minimal. The Adelaide City Council will conduct a traffic audit three times during the next 12 months to assess the impact.
19. How to find out further information?
For general information visit www.cityofadelaide.com.au/rundlelantern or telephone Adelaide City Council Customer Service 08 8203 7203
Content/programming - Carolyn Ramsay, 08 8203 7770
Media - Natalie Di Fava, 08 8203 7760 or 0417 642 378
