Integration Takes Center Stage In The Square

By Carrie Ellis, Editor

Who better to shed some light on the topic of design integration than the crew who renovated the 2007 Times Square New Year’s Eve ball for its 100th birthday? It may look like a simple (albeit enormous) ball of light from your TV screen, but this design project was a massive undertaking involving many components, which eventually combined to form a more brilliant, prismatic and energy-efficient tradition in Times Square.

Inherent in large designs of this nature is the involvement of myriad companies, engineers, designers, fabricators, computer programmers and the like. The question is: How does an organization fit it all together with so many participants in a smooth, integrated way while hitting design targets?

To get acquainted with the magnitude of the project, according to Philips Lighting Company, just a few facts about the characteristics of the ball include:

• Physical dimensions of 6' in diameter.
• Involvement of 9,576 Philips Luxeon LEDs, each of which can be controlled independently, as opposed to 600 traditional light bulbs.
• A palette of more than 16 million vibrant, highly saturated colors-with a possibility of billions of chromatic effects.
• 50,000 hours of usable LED lifetime (compared to the 1,000-hour lifespan of previous incandescent and halogen technology used in the ball).

The Characters

As we all know, each party involved in a project like this has a certain capability for which they were sought out. According to Hudson Scenic Studio Chief Engineer Roger Bardwell, “Several of the key suppliers have a history working on the ball, some dating back decades. Others were chosen for their unique products or technologies. The ability to deliver on short time frames was of paramount concern.”

By incorporating LEDs rather than incandescent or halogen bulbs, the ball's reduced energy consumption equals enough energy to power 10 toasters

Pete Cheyney, the director of corporate communications at Waterford Wedgwood USA, summed up the size of this renovation project by mentioning just some of those involved: Waterford Crystal, Focus Lighting, Philips Lighting, Hudson Scenic Studio, Countdown Entertainment, the Times Square Alliance, lighting designers, lighting engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, crystal manufacturing engineers, structural engineers, crystal designers, crystal craftspeople, production schedulers, computer programmers, electricians, welders and fabricators. Please note: This is not a complete list.

Dickmann Manufacturing provided pyramid mirrors; e:cue Lighting Control provided a lighting control system; the Lapp Group provided power and control cabling; L.E.D. Effects provided integrated LED technology; Landmark Signs provided the ball assembly and operation services; Hudson Scenic Studio provided the structural engineering design and development. Please note: this list is still not complete.

The Goals

Withstanding the winter New York City elements, energy efficiency, enhanced brilliance, more colors ... It’s a lot to ask of a design team. But thanks to dedication and a clear set of goals, all of this was achieved in time for New Year’s Eve of 2007. One of the major challenges of this design was to make the ball as weatherproof as possible, which included using waterproof modules and connections. LEDs were chosen, in addition to other benefits, for their vibration and shock resistance.

Many New Year’s Eve Times Square ball contributors furthermore grounded their designs in green technology to fulfill greater energy efficiency. For instance, Philips Lighting Company was able to improve efficiency by 95 percent with their red Luxeon LEDs, 97.5 percent with their green LEDs, 97.5 percent with their blue LEDs and 67 percent with their white LEDs— this alone led to 156-watt or 87 percent reduction in electricity consumption per four-color series. By incorporating LEDs rather than incandescent or halogen bulbs, the ball’s reduced energy consumption equals approximately the same energy it takes to power 10 toasters.

In order to maximize the crowd's experience of the ball, Focus Lighting brainstormed many new possible techniques for a more dynamic New Year's Eve celebration

And as far as evaluating how to enhance a reveler’s experience of the new ball, Paul Gregory, Focus Lighting CEO and principal designer, says, “We analyze a project like this based on our theatrical experience. We analyzed different views of the ball depending on the location of the audience. A person standing 10’ away should experience the beauty and intensity of each individual crystal triangle, much like the view an audience member in the first row would from that distance in the theatre. A television camera from 50’ away should capture the kaleidoscopic moving patterns of light and color radiating from the crystal triangles. And from as far back as you can get, the back row of the balcony—a reveler celebrating 500’ away on the street in Times Square should see the intricate colorful moving patterns of light sparkling in the sky. Each view of the ball was to be equally dramatic.”

In order to maximize the crowd’s experience of the ball, Focus Lighting brainstormed many new possible techniques for a more dynamic New Year’s Eve celebration. According to Gregory, “We did investigate making the ball larger. We wanted it to appear larger than life and experimented with a variety of new concepts. For instance, the ball descending as it expands on telescoping arms— an explosion of gleaming crystals. Or using very narrow laser beams clustered at the center of each crystal that would create rays of light emanating into the night. We also explored mounting the crystals in a 3-D pyramid shape, forming a ball structure that felt more crystalline in nature. Finally, we decided that real success would not be creating a larger spectacle but bringing out the inherent beauty of the traditional crystal ball.”

As fabricator and armature designer, Hudson Scenic Studio was integral in the planning of the new ball. Bardwell says, “We had a series of roundtable meetings in New York and mapped out a schedule with Philips Lighting that allowed for design, fabrication and shipping to California for electrical fit-up, and programming here in New York of the LED lighting effects.”

Putting it all together, Bardwell had much to consider in advance. He says he had to scrutinize:

• Speed of assembly and disassembly for storage and transport.
• Robustness of fasteners.
• Heat dissipation-"Passive cooling required too much weight; forced ventilation in a sealed ball was the answer."
• The temperature range materials had to withstand, from -5° to 100°C, as well as the variable heat expansion of plastic, glass and metal.
• The optical quality of enclosures.
• Weight.
• Fire resistance.
• Component layout to facilitate assembly.
• Door and elevator constraints.
• Sealing LED/crystal modules-"Non-sealed power supplies meant sealing the perimeter of the ball against water, and the inability to achieve a water-tight seal meant secondary protective 'tents'."

The Process

“Everything starts with a concept,” Gregory comments. “The first team worked on the concept and the goal of enhancing the look of the crystal utilizing high-output LED products. I led six people in charge of completing this assignment. Next, the technical methods of getting the right amount of light at the right location with the proper inter-reflectors was solved by a team of three who then designed the control system.”

One of the major challenges of this design was to make the ball as weatherproof as possible, which included using waterproof modules and connections

Each LED also incorporated its own specific address, enabling a level of two-way communication and digital controllability. In addition to all of the green reasons for using LEDs, Philips Lighting Company states “Whereas incandescent and halogen technology takes time to both reach full brightness and power down, LED technology delivers instant on, instant off capability. The LEDs’ rapid response time enables an exponential range of kinetic lighting effects never before possible.”

Gregory admits, “One problem we encountered was that although the LEDs created vibrant colors, these colors were muddled by the multiple layers of refraction from hundreds of crystal triangles. Through many mockups with our test LED panel, we created a mirrored baffle that isolated each crystal triangle into its own chamber of light. This enhanced the colors produced by the LEDs, and through infinite mirrored inner reflections, created the brilliance of light and purity of color desired for each individual crystal triangle on the ball.”

Mainly dealing with the crystal, Cheyney notes, “The triangles were designed and built from scratch to accommodate the geodesic design of the ball. The panels were crafted to accommodate the extraordinary changes in temperatures that would exist on the surface of the ball during its use in mid-winter. A portion of the surface of the ball was replicated in Waterford, Ireland, covered with Waterford triangles, and subjected to extreme and rapid surface temperature changes and high winds to ensure its suitability.”

Lapp USA’s product manager Rick Orsini was involved in the cable aspect of the ball: “The cable design work was done by Automation House to determine the American Wire Gage and conductor count. The weather conditions and overall weight and outer diameter of the cable were the biggest factors [we needed to consider to successfully integrate our cable into the design of the ball]. The cable needed to be flexible at -10ºC, a smaller outer diameter to reduce the bundle size, and a lighterweight design so the drop/drag from wind would not get too heavy to keep the ball straight and durable enough to hold up to high winds. Lapp USA’s OLFLEX® FD 855P meets all these demands—so it was a perfect fit.” In fact, Lapp only had to modify one thing: “The American Wire Gage and conductor count required to power and control the lights and animation was not a standard size we offered, so we built a special OLFLEX® FD 855P cable to meet their needs.”

Overall, Cheyney saw the following as design obstacles: total weight restrictions, size restrictions, power supply considerations, ease of assembly including plug-and-play modular concepts, weatherproofing, etc. However, all of these obstacles were easily overcome with a clear set of goals in place and universal communication between all involved.

The Performance And The Accolades

“I believe that the design process was accomplished in a very reasonable period of time without unnecessary or undue delays.” The design process progressed smoothly, according to Cheyney, due to “organization, a clear definition of responsibilities and expectations, realistic scheduling of critical steps and benchmarks, communications, and utilization of the best resources available. All involved parties were very pleased with the outcome of the project, the performance of the ball and its impact on the public,” he concludes.

Orsini agrees that a clear set of goals are tantamount, as well as “knowing what is expected and what is needed to be successful ... from there, getting the right team of players/partners and hitting deadlines successfully.”

Gregory believes, “The product and the process were near perfection. I don’t think the project could have gone better. It was technically perfect. Each specialization held true to the concept behind the design, which was simply to enhance the crystal and its facets. Ideas to create more cuts, more facets and to back-cut the crystal were evolved. Preserving the concept throughout the entire project is what led to the success of the project.”

“The number of electronic transmissions of files and information would be difficult to track,” says Bardwell. “The project had a relatively small number of people who were able to maintain an open dialogue throughout the process. Having the majority of the work completed here in the New York metro area made it possible for all the interested parties to make periodic visits to review the design, fabrication and fit-up.” Bardwell credits the project’s success to “a team with a healthy respect for the schedule, and a willingness to kick ideas around and challenge status quo thinking, which makes for a better product.”

“We should all look this spectacular at our 100th birthday party,” jokes Countdown Entertainment President Jeff Straus. “The combination of Waterford Crystal and Philips LED technology have created a dazzling new look for this world-wide tradition of celebrating the New Year.”