Lights, water, action! zenon composes with water and light (UK)

Explore-At-Bristol is one of the UK‘s most exciting hands-on science centres, where one can discover interactive exhibits and special exhibitions, take in a Planetarium show or join a Live Science Team for fun experiments and activities. A registered charity, Explore-At-Bristol runs formal and informal learning programmes and aims to make science accessible to all. The organisation is based at the centre of Bristol in a totally re-developed commercial and recreational area. When they wanted to control and monitor their landmark water sculpture ‘Aquarena’ they turned to zenon – for value, effectiveness and fun!

The water feature in the plaza that fronts Explore-At-Bristolis the creation of designer William Pye. The brief was forsomething that reflected the science and also delivered an aestheticresult. In all his work Pye uses water as a medium to evokemood and to fascinate - these qualities are explored to the limitin Aquarena. The initial response was for a shallow stepped cascadethat was primarily flat water – reflecting the building andin particular reflecting the enormous stainless steel clad spherethat houses Explore’s Planetarium.

The brief was developed to introduce a dynamic element to thewater by adding fountain heads that would on a cyclic basisproduce an active and dynamic effect; the fountains being augmentedby underwater lighting for evening events. This requireda control solution that would be easy for the in-house staff to operate and it also had to facilitate maintenance.

The water control solution operates the valves and various electricalcircuits using Brodersen remote IO units. This was originallyintended to be a standalone controller; however, it becameincreasingly clear that the water feature’s operation and maintenancerequired a centralised solution, and one that could beextended. It was here that zenon was selected owing to its extraordinaryvalue and performance. The system is available onthe Building Manager’s PC, allowing control at all times. This isachieved through a SCADA-like operator interface, event alarms and “recipes” for various display sequences. Richard Clayton (Explore-At-Bristol’s Building Manager) said, “zenon providesus with full control and the flexibility that is needed for thisprestigious public display, combined with the responsible runningof a public water feature and public safety.”

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At_Bristol_E_LoRes_02.pdf