Darwin International Airport ‘Welcome Wave’ from @NanoLumens
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
When Darwin International Airport – considered the gateway to Australia’s Northern Territory, a rich vacationland for both Australians and tourists throughout Asia – wanted to refresh its look and enhance its welcoming role to the region, it renovated all its signage.
The centerpiece of that effort is ‘The Wave’, a sinuous wave-shaped digital canvas created by NanoLumens, Norcross, Georgia-based manufacturer and marketer of LED visualization solutions.
Located above the baggage carousels in the airport’s arrivals area, it is immediately eye-catching. With a 6.6mm-pixel pitch running a high-definition full-motion video of the region’s attractions across a 14’wide-by-4.5’-high (4.3 meter-by-1.4 meter) wave-shaped solution, it evokes the feel of the region’s famous natural features.
“We are delighted with the impact that ‘The Wave’ has created,” says Ginny Sanders, head of communications and media for Northern Territory Airports. “The Wave is an important pillar of Darwin Airport’s role as the primary gateway to the Northern Territory and its role in defining the expectations of visitors from the moment they arrive at the airport. From a commercial perspective, it has also allowed us to deliver advertising solutions that are not available elsewhere in Darwin, creating an advertising site that is truly unique.”
The NanoLumens solution was intended as the welcome sign travelers first see as they prepare to head into the region. The NanoLumens solution was recommended by Digital Place Solutions, a digital display and place-based media consultancy that specializes in next generation high-resolution LED solutions.
“The concept came from airport consultant Jeremy Corfield, a partner at CPI, as part of a plan to refresh the digital signage at the airport,” says Gerry Thorley, director at Digital Place Solutions. “Darwin Airport wanted to include a display in the baggage collection area to promote the city and region, and this location would offer good dwell time for arriving passengers to be informed about Darwin and the region.”
NanoLumens offered the best solution, providing superior brightness, high resolution, extreme clarity and other technical features in exactly the form factor the project’s esthetic required.
“NanoLumens was the best choice based on the company’s ability to provide a smooth, curved wave in line with the concept design that CPI had brought to the airport,” says Thorley.
Weight, or the lack of, was also a key consideration. The entire 63 sq. ft. NanoCurve weighs barely 350 pounds.
“Other brands might have attempted to provide a faceted wave but it would look like a lot of flat faces side by side,” says Thorley. “Additionally, the depth and weight would have been larger and it would not have looked nearly as exquisite.”
Corfield agreed, saying, “CPI is an independent digital advisor to airports and mall operators and we always look for the technology solution that is the best fit for each individual project. The NanoLumens NanoCurve was the best solution for this component of the installation at Darwin Airport as it was one of only a small number of potential light-weight, flexible LED solutions that could create the desired look and feel, with a suitably slim profile. The NanoLumens warranty, the interoperability with our chosen airport-wide content management system, and CPI’s experience with NanoLumens in other markets were also important considerations.”
“NanoLumens took the client’s concept drawings and turned them into a stunning 21st Century visual reality,” says Thorley.
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