View Full Version : United Founders Tower Lights...



Luke
05-28-2005, 07:39 PM
Anyone notice the lights on the United Founders Tower on NW Expressway? (It's the one with Nikz at the top, the revolving restaurant). The tower is lit up really nicely. It's spotlit all over and changes colors. Check it out...

brianinok
05-28-2005, 10:13 PM
It's been like that at least a month. It is really cool. I wish some of our buildings downtown would do something cool like that-- or line their building in neon or something.

John
05-28-2005, 10:16 PM
They previously had what looked like colored floodlights shining across the face of the building, though now it looks like they have installed some sort of LED or fiberoptic system of lights.

Pretty nice effect.

Speaking of Founders Tower, next to the tower is the old Continental theater. I'd like to see someone turn it into an independant-type movie theater or venue similar to Will Rogers Theatre on Western.

Pete
05-29-2005, 09:13 AM
Some of you probably aren't old enough to remember that that tower was illuminated with colored flood lights back in the 60's and maybe even the 70's. :)

okcpulse
05-29-2005, 10:27 AM
No, I wasn't old enough to remember that, but I do remember how it was illuminated back in the 1990s, with that boring monotone. I hope the owner keep it this way.

zuluwarrior0760
05-29-2005, 07:51 PM
They are LEDs
but the owner went against the advice of his maintenance
director and went and got some cheap led fixtures direct from China.
They have had incredible problems with the installation since then,
and the lights ended up being about 1/5th as bright as the first led system
they looked at. they wanted the colors to be visible all the way up Hefner
Parkway and what they got was something that is completely non noticeable
unless you're right up on the building...and the color change isn't subtle......it's
just blinking lights versus nice slow changes.....it looks nice when you're right next door
but go up to Britton and Hefner Pkwy and you see nothing........I've heard that the
owner in Florida is extremely unhappy with the lights.......I know there are some
cool lighting projects in the works downtown........and the led lighting inside and outside
of Nonna's in Bricktown is pretty cool.......

Luke
05-29-2005, 08:16 PM
Zulu, is the owner of the Founders Tower going to do something about it? Also, can you tell us more about the "cool lighting projects in the works for downtown"?

diesel
05-30-2005, 02:54 PM
i would like to know what type of lights those are on top of city walk?!?! very purplish/bluish lights that shine on the side of the building.. i emailed someone there and they said that they got them from the UK but do not remember the name of them... i have never seen anything like that color in light except for like headlights in bmw's and such...

Patrick
05-31-2005, 09:21 AM
I've also driven by United Founders Tower several times at night. I also like the flashing colorful lights. But, as many of you mention, they can only be viewed in the general vicinity of the building. I was disappointed that the changing lights couldn't be viewed from up Hefner Parkway, say at Hefner Rd. I hope the owner considers spending extra money upgrading the lights, making them brighter, although I will admit, the current lighting is better than what was there before.

I guess this proves the old saying...you get what you pay for.

I also noticed that the old white flood lights were left, although they're no longer illuminated. I wonder if the owner is considering switching between the old monotone lights and the new lighting system. Personally, I hope he just scraps the old spot lights.

HOT ROD
05-31-2005, 09:40 AM
i would like to know what type of lights those are on top of city walk?!?! very purplish/bluish lights that shine on the side of the building.. i emailed someone there and they said that they got them from the UK but do not remember the name of them... i have never seen anything like that color in light except for like headlights in bmw's and such...

well, for what it's worth, the headlights on BMW's are called HID - High Intensity Discharge lights. Im not sure this is what is on CityWalk, but they do make HIDs for non-automotive uses.

HID uses less power while taking advantage of the higher light spectrum. This is why the light appears blue or purple from far away but is very bright for the driver opposed to the yellow halogen lights that most cars have.

brianinok
05-31-2005, 10:00 AM
In case any of you are in the market for a new car, I recommend HID's (or Xenon). I have them on my BMW, and they are amazing. I've seen the lights at CityWalk, but I don't think they are the same, but I could be wrong. I think that CityWalk's lights are too blue to be HID's.

Patrick
05-31-2005, 10:10 AM
Argh, they may be good for the driver, but man, I sure hate looking at them at night. They seem to generate more glare than general headlights.

HOT ROD
05-31-2005, 10:23 AM
In case any of you are in the market for a new car, I recommend HID's (or Xenon). I have them on my BMW, and they are amazing. I've seen the lights at CityWalk, but I don't think they are the same, but I could be wrong. I think that CityWalk's lights are too blue to be HID's.

Me too. I love them on my M3.

brianinok
05-31-2005, 10:29 AM
Patrick, you just need to buy a Beemer and join those of us that are blinding the rest of Oklahoma City at night!

metro
05-31-2005, 10:57 AM
yeah i dont citywalk has HID's but i could be wrong also, you can also get an HID conversion kit for your car for $350-2000, the visibility is so much nicer

Patrick
05-31-2005, 11:05 AM
Patrick, you just need to buy a Beemer and join those of us that are blinding the rest of Oklahoma City at night!

Guess I should spend all of the med school loan money on one! lol!

zuluwarrior0760
05-31-2005, 11:52 AM
Citywalk's lights are HIDs although very unusual ones.
HID is just another name for "metal halide"....
Typically, the way we get colors in hid is just put a lens over it,
the only problem is, that also cuts the light by 50-90 percent,
especially in the blue spectrum.
Citywalk is using a special metal halide lamp in which the actual
material inside the capsule that produces the light has an additive
that creates a certain color of light, without filtering it.......
I think if you do a websearch on "colorarc", you'll find some
pages on it.....