The Gate

Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

The Gate is a leading leisure and entertainment venue housing a host of well-known bars, restaurants, clubs, cinema and casino right in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne. Open 7 days a week, the venue recently went through a multi-million pound refurbishment that included the addition of a new cocktail bar, lobby area and mood lighting throughout.

UFO was approached and asked by the designer of the lighting scheme, SKR Lighting Design, to manufacture a fiber optic lighting system for the venue’s vast ceiling space.

In response we created a 30m x 8m star cloth and filled it with 2400 points of colour-changing light, to create a really dramatic focal point that is visible from the ground and first floors. Six of our Nova LED illuminators with twinkle wheel and DMX control are used to power the fiber optics and give the points of light their twinkling, colour-changing effect. The illuminators are stored out of sight in a location that is easily accessible to The Gate’s maintenance personnel.

As The Gate remained open throughout the refurbishment period our installation team was able to fit the star cloth and illuminators out of hours, over several consecutive nights.

Video & images © Jill Tate Photography