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The Canada Life Beacon, located atop the Canada Life Building in downtown Toronto, has gotten a new facelift and VISO Inc. is proud to have played a part in upgrading this iconic structure.
Standing nearly 100 meters above University Avenue, the weather beacon is the oldest one in Canada. The beacon is programmed to give the citizens of Toronto a summary of their daily weather forecast with information updated four time a day by Environment Canada’s Weather Centre at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The structure features two sections: a light box at the top and a metal tower. The light box measures 1.4m (55.12”) by 1.4m (55.12”) and the tower measure 9m (354.33”) tall.
Brief
VISO was selected by Toronto-based engineering consulting firm Mulvey & Banani International Inc. (MBII) to design and fabricate all the outdoor lighting upgrades for the Canada Life Beacon. This is the first major update since the weather beacon was installed almost 60 years ago in 1951. “Our goal was to replicate the original look of the beacon but to bring it into the modern era,” said Brooks Munroe, Assistant General Manager of VISO.
Results
VISO replaced the outdoor lighting on the tower and changed all the housing for the lights going up the structure with stainless steel enclosures. As part of the modernization, each light was switched from medium based sockets to integral LEDs with polycarbonate spheres, which replicated the look of the original bulb but made the fixture more energy efficient. In total 1,004 lamps were changed for the 19-level structure.
The lightbox at the top of the tower used to be lit by strings of old-fashion Christmas string lights in red and green. VISO modernized this by replacing the string lights with 27 IP67 RBG-controlled LED strips with 108 LEDs, totally 2,160 watts. They are all housed within a galvanized steel structure with a powder coated finish enclosed with acrylic panels. This allows the lights to be programed and project the right colour to reflect the weather forecast. Not sure what the colours mean? Here is a quick overview:
The beacon light on top indicates sky conditions:
The beacon tower lights explain the temperature story
The weather is updated four times a day
The lights use to be controlled via analogue relays but VISO implemented a DMX protocol, which is the standard for digital communication networks commonly used for lighting effects. This means that we are able to pre-program all the light patterns into a digital system, allowing for ease of use.
Challenges
Mother nature became the biggest challenge during the installation for this project. The design and fabrication of the outdoor fixtures were completed in late fall and installation started in late November. As every Torontonian knows, the weather is not forgiving during this time of the year and as a result, VISO’s installation team faced high winds, rain, snow and sub-zero temperatures. The team pushed through and was able to complete the project by the second week of December.
Alan McIntosh of Mulvey & Banani Lighting Inc.: “Tasked with changing out the lighting for the country’s oldest weather beacon without having it look like anything had changed is not as easy as it sounds. Looking at the all the custom lighting applications, my first call was to Filipe. For me, getting VISO involved early in the process was a no brainier. The details and the thought that needed to go into each and every aspect of the lighting needed to be carefully planned and constructed to ensure the new installation out-lives its predecessor. Not only did VISO deliver; their team’s dedication to ensuring the installation met everyone’s expectations went above and beyond their role as manufacture. Thanks to VISO, the beacon continues to shine brightly and will to do so for a very long time.”
