MRD Lighting – Lighting Design

Onboard: Sun Princess, Princess Cruises

Sun Princess’s central Piazza is a stunning new technological advancement for Princess Cruises. Bridging the gap between architectural and entertainment lighting, the Piazza incorporates approx. 300 universes of DMX data to deliver a pixel controlled, fully immersive, custom lighting environment. Miles of pixel controlled lighting line the walls along all decks, as well as through radial ceiling coves. The central chandelier contains 28 universes of pixel controlled LED, all connected through custom control hardware to create a unique, one of a kind piece of technology. The entire venue can stand alone as a white light space, or be plunged into a world of color and effects via the connection to the ship’s entertainment programming. The chandelier itself conceals another secret – a rigging point and winch for aerialists and flying scenery.

The Piazza is designed to be adaptable. During the day, the lighting is designed to be neutral with subtle movement and hints of color. As night descends and a show begins, the Piazza walls and ceilings burst to life with color, effects, motion – pulling guests into the action at the center. The entertainment teams can connect their video content to playback over the pixel nodes, meaning the entire room has the capacity to play along with the main video screens. Flanking the atrium’s void are six deck to ceiling columns backlit with pixel control panels, and custom RGBW lighting fixtures embedded around the bulkheads of each deck. Every deck of the Piazza has dining and drinking venues, which were all kept as a warm white in order to ground the service based areas and differentiate them from the show.

The magic of the Piazza lies beyond what the guest can see, in its control system. At the core of the system is an ETC Atlas pro. During the day, the shipwide Helvar system sends the ETC system triggers, including venue specific touch panels around the atrium, to blend the traditional white light and dynamic lighting elements. When it’s show time, the entertainment system takes over and a multilayer video signal is sent from the Hippo Media Server to the Atlas’s pixel map, giving the entertainment team full control over all dynamic show elements and transforming the room itself into an immersive, dynamic show element. The entire Piazza has the capacity to be a fully customizable solution for events, holidays, themed cruises, meaning that not only will every show be different, but every cruise will allow a new experience.