Philips lights up Australia’s first Martian Embassy

July 20, 2012

Sydney, Australia – Philips Lighting has donated a range of state of the art LED lighting solutions towards the creation of the Sydney Story Factory and Martian Embassy.

The Sydney Story Factory is a not-for-profit creative writing centre for young people. It utilises a volunteer base to offer students free one-on-one or small group help to write stories which it then seeks to publish. The Martian Embassy gives the centre a space-age theme to inspire young writer’s imaginations.

The programs are open to all, but are catered towards marginalised young people and those from indigenous or non-English speaking backgrounds.

“Philips is proud to be involved in the creation of the Sydney Story Factory and Martian Embassy,” said Michael Downie, General Manager of Philips Lighting Australia. “Our mission is to improve people’s lives through meaningful innovation. With the creativity and collaboration of Xenian and Arup, the Philips LED lighting technology now creates a Martian environment which will inspire children to write and create.”

Designers from global consulting firm Arup designed how the Philips LEDs would work with Philips Color Kinetics distributor Xenian donating the commissioning of the lighting solutions. The installation which includes 220 ColorFuse Powercore LED modules provide professional-grade colour mixing to give the space a colourful and dynamic ‘Martian feel’.

“The Arup design team are proud to have had the opportunity to creatively assist in the development of this remarkable community asset,” said Tim Hunt, lighting designer at Arup. “The facility encourages creativity and we believe we have helped design a space which will fire the imagination.”

The Sydney Story Factory and its attached Martian Embassy and Gift Shop will be unveiled on Friday July 20 to the media, ahead of its official launch on July 21 by the Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency, Professor Marie Bashir.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity.” Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 122,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 22.6 billion in 2011, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter..

About Arup

Arup is the creative force at the heart of many of the world’s most prominent projects in the built environment and across industry. We offer a broad range of professional services that combine to make a real difference to our clients and the communities in which we work. We are truly global. From 90 offices in 35 countries our 10,000 planners, designers, engineers and consultants deliver innovative projects across the world with creativity and passion. Founded in 1946 with an enduring set of values, our unique trust ownership fosters a distinctive culture and an intellectual independence that encourages collaborative working. This is reflected in everything we do, allowing us to develop meaningful ideas, help shape agendas and deliver results that frequently surpass the expectations of our clients.The people at Arup are driven to find a better way and to deliver better solutions for our clients. We shape a better world.