Ronstan Catenary Lighting System Offers Versatile, Refined Illumination at Pitt Street Mall

Dec. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Photos: http://lopressroom.com/ronstan/pitt-street-mall

PORTSMOUTH, R.I… Ronstan Tensile Architecture – a leader in end-to-end specialty contracting services and expert in tensile architecture – has manufactured and installed a new catenary lighting system at Pitt Street Mall in Sydney, Australia.

The City of Sydney turned to Ronstan to upgrade Pitt Street Mall’s lighting to an energy-efficient catenary system as part of the overall redevelopment at the precinct. The result is a ladder-like series of lights supported by a Ronstan high-tension stainless steel cable framework.

The system illuminates the pedestrian areas below and the facades of the buildings, without needing large self-standing poles or heavy-looking supports. The 16m high tensile cable web is almost invisible, with bowstring support cables anchored every 20 meters into the facades of the buildings along the mall.

The catenary lights themselves comprise long tubes, combining downward illumination and a sequence of LEDs along the vertical length, which can be programmed for different colors depending on seasonal requirements – reflecting specific moods and occasions.

"The applications of tensile architecture are endless, thanks to its complex combination of engineering and design,” says Rowan Murray, General Manager of Ronstan Tensile Architecture. “The Pitt Street Mall project is another example of this fact – and of the versatility, reliability and beauty of tensile forms."

The catenary lighting system at Pitt Street Mall comprises a twin longitudinal cable arrangement tied back to the surrounding buildings via spacers and guying cables. 23 customized tube style luminaires (lights) are suspended between 34 Marine Grade type 316 stainless steel ribbon catenary cables. The 1x19 strand cables are designed and manufactured to withstand up to 60 tonnes of tension, while resisting corrosion and stretch.

Pitt Street Mall reopened on December 6, 2012. In addition to Ronstan Tensile Architecture, the project team consisted of architect Tony Caro Architecture (Sydney, Australia), cable and structural designers EnstructStructural & Civil Engineers (Sydney, Australia) and building connections engineers Hyder Consulting (Sydney, Australia).

About Ronstan Tensile Architecture: Ronstan Tensile Architecture provides the architectural/engineering communities of North America, Australia and Asia with end-to-end specialty contracting services, technical expertise and bold imagination that have resulted in some of the world’s most intriguing examples of tensile architecture. Ronstan maintains the unique capability to provide comprehensive services for small to midsize projects incorporating principles of tensile architecture, including concept development, design assistance, cable and fitting selection, structural analysis and installation. Incorporated in Melbourne, Australia, in the 1950s, Ronstan Tensile Architecture operates offices internationally. For more information, visit www.RonstanTensileArch.com.