A project to illuminate Jubilee Buildings in Douglas is being considered for a major lighting industry award.
 
The building is one of three to have made the shortlist for a Lux Award. It’s in prestigious company alongside a listed heritage estate in Knightsbridge and Debenhams’ flagship store in London’s Oxford Street.
 
Professional Lighting Design has transformed the building that sits next to the iconic Jubilee Clock at the ports gateway to the Isle of Man.
 
Managing director Ralph Peake said: ‘We are thrilled to be considered alongside important buildings in the heart of London, where outdoor lighting is much more widely used to highlight and dramatise local architecture. Quality lighting can make a huge difference to the facade of a building and the general ambience of an area and Jubilee Buildings is a fine example of this.’
 
The project was inspired by a guerrilla lighting event organised by Professional Lighting Design and the Douglas Development Partnership, which over the course of one evening completely transformed Jubilee Buildings along with the Sea Terminal, the harbour lifting bridge and the sunken gardens on Douglas promenade. On behalf of the Jubilee Buildings owners, Professional Lighting Design worked with the local authority and central government on a pioneering agreement to allow for privately funded lighting to be installed into the public realm, to light both a private building and a public pathway.
 
The result has been stunning.
 
Ralph Peake says: ‘This agreement is the first of its kind on the Isle of Man and we hope this will set a precedent for future lighting projects. Previously, Jubilee Buildings had no specific lighting, leaving its fine engineered brick and sandstone dressing to disappear, devaluing the building for stakeholders and the public.'

‘It has been gratifying to be able to create a dramatic night scene in a designated regeneration area.’
 
The winner of the Outdoor Lighting Project of the Year award will be announced at the Lux Live event in London on November 19.