speirs and major associates: sands bethworks

sands bethworks illuminated by speirs and major associates all photos © alyssha eve csuk courtesy speirs and major associates

UK-based speirs and major associates have sent us in images of their latest project. the studio weas invited to light sands bethworks – a massive disused steelworks, as part of a renovated casino resort in bethlehem, pennsylvania. bethlehem steel used to be one of the largest shipbuilding and steel producers in the world and still remains an important symbol of america’s industrial greatness. a decade after the furnaces finally went cold, the site has been transformed into a resort run by las vegas sands corporation. as part of the development, several structures, including the blast furnaces that defined the city’s skyline for 100 years, have been carefully preserved and re-lit.

the designers’ approach was to preserve the memory using light to retell the story of local steel production. carefully programmed LED’s illuminate the structures, with shades of red and blue used to express hot and cold processes. the furnaces appear to glow, intensifying in colour as they ‘heat’ up, before cooling off and returning to darkness for periods. in this way, light plays a strategic role in linking the site to its industrial past – preserving the integrity of the bethlehem steel  edifices and celebrating their place in american industrial history.