When last year Liverpool,
Mexico’s largest department store chain, opened its flagship unit in
Villahermosa, some 63 x PR-8800 LED fixtures (each
containing 108 x 3W RGB LED’s) were used to wash the building.
Now the Chinese
manufacturer’s Mexican distributors, Hermes Music, have confirmed that an even
greater number of PR Lighting’s LED sources have been deployed at the larger Liverpool
store in Puebla, which was recently remodelled. And this time Hermes have
specified 104 of the super bright XPar 390 spots to bring the building to life
after dark.
Each RGB head
contains 90 x 3W high quality LEDs (24 each of RGB and 18 white) with full colour
mixing and linear CTO. Critically, it also has a beam angle of 14° and
field angle of 28°.
Explaining
the choice, Hermes Music’s lighting specialist, Ricardo Segura de la Cruz, said the
decision was based on space and the need for a compact fixture with a wide
diffusion. “Between the
main wall and the lattice façade there is only 40cm to install — but the beam
needs to flood light across 38 meters. From the lamp source to the highest
point in the façade the XPar 390 provides the perfect solution.”
He said the solution had been created by
installing a metal plate, using the same rods which attach the lattice to the
main wall. The metal plate sits horizontally on the rods and the fixtures are
bolted to it. It can then be adjusted for better placement, enabling the lighting to work in conjunction with the façade.
However, the IP67-rated XPar 390 does more than just colour
wash the walls. Since Puebla is where Mexican independence began (and the
seminal battle took place) the country’s green, white and red vertical striped tricolour
is represented on two of the main walls — part of the genius of lighting
designer Joseph C.
Rubenak Vargas
(from AGISA). This
is visible from far away and attracts crowds
in its own right.
Mr. de la Cruz confirms that PR Lighting
solutions now feature in ten Liverpool stores, with three more confirmed — and a fourth
provisionally set for what is rumoured to become the largest mall in Latin
America.
In fact Liverpool
operates in no fewer than 27 shopping malls. Its 85 department stores comprise
57 under the Liverpool name, with 23 stores under the Fábricas de Francia name,
five Duty Free stores and 27 specialised boutiques.
