Two North West companies are celebrating after their colour-changing canopy of 182 LED light boxes, displayed at a flagship beauty store in Paris, was hailed a triumph.
The ‘jewel in the crown’ was developed and manufactured by Middleton-based Unibox, and Intecho, based in Knutsford, for the re-opening of Sephora’s prestigious store on the Champs-Elysees, following a multi-million Euro renovation project.
It was the culmination of an 15-month collaboration between the beauty brand and Unibox, the UK’s biggest manufacturer of aluminium and LED-based solutions for retail spaces, exhibitions and commercial interiors, and Intecho, a leading provider of SMART building technology solutions.
Sephora had asked if the firms could make the vision of a thematic canopy a reality after seeing a bespoke Unibox design manufactured for a development in London.
While Unibox adopted and developed the concept for manufacturing, Intecho’s brief was to devise and implement a comprehensive arrangement of lighting controls, featuring its DALI DIMMING system for precise and dynamic lighting management, for both the canopy and the lighting throughout the rest of the store.
The 82m canopy is capable of multiple thematic animations, such as mesmerising black and white Sephora stripes that chime with its brand image, as well as a rainbow LGBT Pride and red, white and blue Bastille Day-themed displays among others.
New animations can be designed remotely and uploaded to the Paris store from the UK.
Stunning result
Paul Murphy, Intecho director said: “The end result is stunning. The first thing everybody did when they walked into the store was to look up at the canopy. It breathes life into the space, creating a perfect ambiance for everyone who enters.
“We were thrilled to collaborate with Unibox and Sephora, leaving an indelible mark on their flagship store. The vision for this project was to elevate the visitor experience through innovative technology solutions. This project has set a new global standard for luxury shopping.”
Unibox director Nick Wraith added: “From the initial enquiry until the store opening, it took an immense amount of ingenuity and innovation to make the idea into a working reality.
“We had to create solutions to some complex and specific requests, such as lux level and efficacy, the need to make the lightboxes RGBW, include access hatches for maintenance and take the store’s air extraction and fire suppression systems into account in the design. There was also a glass firewall we had to meet and then continue the canopy on the other side. These were all problems that we were able to solve.”
Future plans
With Sephora planning to open more stores in the UK in 2024, the Unibox sales team is now in talks with the beauty brand’s parent company to supply more bespoke lighting solutions.
The Northern businesses are now plotting a smaller scale working replica of the canopy when they exhibit at the LiGHT23 trade show in London later this month.
