FRONT FACADE
Three rows of EXT2 type lights are located under the canopy, to symbolise the theatre's image. They are incandescent and yellowish in colour. This unfortunately does not marry well with the neutral white of the EXT5 type fluorescent tube placed vertically on either side of the poster light boxes.
EXT2 was chose for its low cost. A better choice would have been to use LED type bulbs whose colour could have been same as EXT5.
On the canopy, three EXT1 type projectors are used to light the vinyl letters, fixed on the interior side of the glass facade. The result was hard to predict. Whith new environmental considerations, it is not considered qise to have lights pointing towards the sky. A better solution would have been to position the lights on the parapet. This solution was rejected because of maintenance difficulties to change the bulbs. Also, it would have been unsightly to have arms overhanging the roof to hold the light projectors.
Because the canopy's shallow depth of 1.2 m, there was not much setback to position the projectors and lighting distribution is not according to specs. This is not a major issue.
The projectors, by also lighting the curtain wall and its mullions, project its distorted grid shadow on the back internal wall, breaking the pure orthogonal geometry of the architecture.
It could have been best to not have the projectors. They fortunately can be turned off separately of other fixtures.
More successful are the F1 type fluorescent tubes positioned on the inside surface of the vertical mullions of the curtain wall structure. They do not produce unsightly shadows and blend discreet with the balck mullions. They may not be sufficient to light the letters, especially seen from the sides as one approaches.
The lighting of the letters remains, for the architect, an issue that has not been solved with satisfaction. No alternate solution seems viable.
BACK FACADE
The major part of the parking for the theatre is located at the back of the building. It was therefore important to announce the theatre with signage and light it to affirm its presence. The same type of letters were used, light with three EXT4 type projectors. These projectors are identical to EXT1 type, except that they have an arm of 0.8 m to allow setback and better lighting effect.
Unlike the front facade, the back surface is opaque. There are not unwanted shadows projecting diagonal lines. The lights project towards the sky to be consistend with the lighting comncept developped for the front facade. The architect thinks the concentrated warm spot could have been balanced for a more subtle effet, but no alternate solution was found.