Hennessy, Changi Airport T3: Tetsu LED and a Spiral LED Rescue

What the client needed

The store's interior designer designed Hennessy's display at Changi Airport T3, with ribbons of curved LED spiralling around a round centrepiece. It was their first LED project. To save cost, the spiral LED was bought directly from overseas, not through us, so it missed the checks and support we give on our own supply. When problems started on site, the supplier gave little help, and the designer asked us to step in.

What we found

• The support structure had not been packed properly and was bent out of shape in transport.
• The power supplies did not fit inside the structure, so the LED modules could not sit and hold properly.
• Too many thick network cables had been run into each section, and they were pushing the modules off their cabinets.
• During setup, a power cable was connected the wrong way. We caught it before the screen was switched on.

What we did

We supplied and installed two portrait Tetsu Series screens, each 1280 × 2080 mm at P2, and stepped in to fix and install the spiral.

• Moved the power supplies further back so every module could sit flush and lock in.
• Re-ran the network cabling, split into several runs so no section was overloaded with cable.
• Checked every power connection before switch-on.

The result

The spiral ribbons now run cleanly around the Hennessy display in the T3 duty-free store. Without the right knowledge on site, it could easily have ended in a damaged screen and a missed opening.

What other designers can take from this

The spiral was bought overseas to save cost. It ended up costing more: the rework on site, the extra time and the outside help added up to more than the saving. Buying LED overseas can look cheaper, until something goes wrong on site and there is no one local to fix it. If you are planning a curved or custom LED feature, involve an LED specialist from the start.