The centerpiece of the EXPO 2017 exposition site, the colossal Kazakh Pavilion—also known as the Astana Sphere—stands as a marvel of engineering and design. Designed by renowned American Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill architects, it holds the title of the largest spherical building in the world, rising nearly 100 meters high. The vision for the pavilion’s lighting was equally ambitious: to illuminate all window mullions on both sides, creating a striking grid of horizontal and twisted, S-shaped vertical lines.
VML-Technologies was entrusted with turning this vision into reality, from product and system design to final actual installation, system commissioning and show content creation. Through an extensive prototype design phase, the company developed a very power efficient, high-brightness Lattice™ LED pixel cluster with 360-degree symmetrical viewing characteristics. These compact yet high-brightness LED clusters were designed to integrate invisibly into the slim interior window mullion constructions, with all wiring concealed from view. The solution also incorporated an extremely efficient wiring where all data wiring was centralized at the sphere’s equator level, streamlining installation and ensuring clean aesthetics.
To further meet the challenges of this monumental project, VML-Technologies designed the LED system with flexible clusters, allowing individual pixels to be arranged into LED lines of varying lengths to fit the wide range of window sizes and shapes. The final installation comprises 122 144 Lattice™ LED pixel clusters, covering a surface area of more than 16 868 square metres.
VML-Technologies was also contracted to handle the system installation and integration. Over a period of six months, a dedicated crew of 28 professionals, including 13 highly skilled alpinist climbers, meticulously installed the LED lighting system. The methodical approach ensured that each LED cluster was seamlessly integrated into the steel façade structure. VML-Technology also designed and operated all lighting and video content for the LED sphere during the 3 months of the event.
This extraordinary achievement by VML-Technologies not only realized the architects’ vision but also elevated the Astana Sphere into a breath-taking night-time spectacle. The seamless blend of advanced technology, engineering precision, and aesthetic design serves as a global benchmark for architectural LED video lighting systems.
