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Philips lights up Cairo’s Baron Palace

Philips brings history to life by illuminating the historic Baron Palace in Cairo with spectacular LED digital lighting.

Global lighting giant Philips has carried out a stunning lighting makeover of the historic, well-renowned Baron Palace, one of the oldest buildings in Cairo as part of its fifth consecutive pan-African Cairo to Cape Town roadshow. Philips’ latest LED technology has been used to highlight the palace’s features as never before, combining warm and cool daylight colours. The innovative LED lighting allows energy savings of 80% over the traditional lights that are currently used in the Palace and has a lifetime of up to 50,000 hours.

About Baron Palace

The Baron Palace was built between 1907 and 1911 for the Belgian-born industrialist, Baron-General Edouard Louis Joseph Empain (1852-1929). He chose the prestigious location in Heliopolis and ordered Alexander Marcel, a French architect and a member of the prestigious French Institute, to build him a palace with an architectural style that was very different. The Palace was constructed in reinforced concrete over a rotating base which revolves the palace to access sun beams in all directions. Today, the palace, which is located close to the presidential Palace, remains a tourist attraction as an architectural masterpiece with a rich history and unique design.

“The lighting up of the Baron Palace creates an almost mythical atmosphere around the palace that brings history to life,” says Tamer Abol Ghar, CEO, Philips Egypt and General Manager, Philips Lighting Egypt & Sudan. “Philips is very proud to have placed its know-how and technology at the service of this iconic monument. For us the challenge was to devise effective lighting while respecting the authenticity of this monument. The lighting really had to enhance the beauty of the site without at any time overwhelming it. We are very proud of the final result and hope it will improve the tourism value of the Palace.”

The advantages of the LED lighting provided at Baron Palace include:

  • dynamic lighting that makes it possible to adjust the atmosphere of the site (change of intensity and colour)
  • a longer lifespan of the installation: around 50,000 hours compared to 12,000 hours with conventional lighting
  • a reduction in maintenance costs – LED luminaires require little maintenance, while at the same time they cut energy consumption by 80%.

The Baron Palace is the latest world-renowned site to be transformed by Philips in Egypt; Philips is also responsible for the illumination of the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza, the Cairo Tower, and the Nile West Bank in Luxor as well as the Hibiz Temple in the Western Desert. Philips will also be providing a lighting makeover of historic, well-recognized monuments in African cities during the Cairo to Cape Town roadshow, taking place from 14 April to 3 September 2014.

Cairo was the first stop on Philips’ annual flagship roadshow, which focuses on key challenges facing Africa today – the need for energy-efficient lighting and the revitalization of African healthcare infrastructure. Philips has committed to lighting up and illuminating one iconic monument in every city visited during the roadshow with the latest LED technology.

The Roadshow will make its way across seven countries and ten cities in Africa; next stop will be in Algiers on 12 May followed by Casablanca, Morocco on 27 May.

www.lighting.philips.co.uk