Chic tailor-made lighting structures now adorn La Croisette world-famous promenade in Cannes, South of France. Imagined by lighting designer Vincent Thiesson (Agence ON, France) and Belgian designer Alain Gilles, developped and manufactured by French company Technilum, these high-end lighting systems now equip the beach entrances of Cannes.
Created to enhance the public realm, this extremely elegant lighting furniture is also incredibly smart, integrating 10 additional features, including dynamic and texturised lighting, alongside signage, CCTV, speakers, menu-holders, mailboxes, etc.
Agence ON created a stylish lighting scheme, vector of a strong identity, which qualitatively marks the entire bay of Cannes.
Like the architecture of the new beach restaurants on the Croisette, the lighting structures are modernist-inspired while showcasing a few streamlined Art-Deco details echoing the facades of some of the great mythical hotels on the Croisette.
At nightfall, the 2 x 17 LEDs placed on the mast draw a dotted line, like a topstitch. These light points create a visual identity between all the Beach entrances along the Croisette and highlight the particular curve of Cannes’ bay. Distinctive dynamic light scenographies can be schedule to accompany the different events the City of Cannes usually celebrates (Bastille day, Cannes festival, Saint Patrick, Christas Eve, etc.).
In addition, each beach entrance is illuminated with a soft textured lighting, seeking to evoke the sun’s reflection on the sea. For this, special projectors equipped with LED and focusing lenses have been developped by Agence ON, Alain Gilles and Technilum.
Beyond offering a distinctive and revealing lighting, the wish of the City of Cannes was to take advantage of the masts to provide numerous functions. One single piece of furniture indeed covers more than 10 smart or low-tech services, all of them aimed at improving users and tourists’ comfort and well-being: CCTV, speakers (able to broadcast tsunami warnings as well as ambiant music), signage, menu-holder, mailbox…
Unique in its kind, this pooling makes it possible to drastically limit public space congestion, to the delight of walkers. It is also a significant gain in terms of installation and maintenance (pooling of networks and road works).
The 6.5 metres high tailor-made masts are made of aluminium (low carbon foot-print, 100% and indefinitely recyclable), entirely weld-free to avoid any risk of corrosion. Composed of 230 parts, all of them developed, manufactured and carefully assembled in Technilum’s factory in the South of France, the lighting structures have benefited from the skills of a multidisciplinary and experienced team (lighting design, design, manufacturing), guaranteeing an impactful result that meets the top-level requirements of the City of Cannes.
Special attention has been given to obtain a distinctive design that offers the right proportions: all the required functions are indeed all harmoniously integrated. The simplicity of the shapes and the quality and thickness of the material give the masts an opulent and timeless look : they are there to last and make their mark on history, day and night!
