Client: Haig Housing Trust, Coming Home Campaign

Venue: The Tower of London

The Haigh Housing Trust wanted to light up the Tower of London with projections of wounded war heroes, in order to raise awareness of their ‘Coming Home’ campaign. The campaign provides severely wounded soldiers with specially adapted housing.

The trust joined forces  with photographer Rankin, who took photos of  two war veterans, which were then projected onto the walls of the iconic monument.

At an impressive 30 by 8.5 metres, the images were projected onto the Tower of London’s giant moat wall and flanked by high brightness gobos.

First Network used four double stacked Panasonic DZ21K 20,000 lumen projectors to achieve the resolution and brightness needed. Since the Panasonic projector employs a four-lamp system, it will keep working even if a lamp should fail, ensuring continuous reliable projection. Image resolution was 3800 x 1080 pixels and provided by twin customised Mac Pro Cylinders via Barco control and matrix switching.

Scott Yarrington, 30, was photographed on his prosthetic legs and was displayed alongside James Davies, 40, who was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in Afghanistan.  Mr Yarrington, was helped by the charity after he lost both legs while on a bomb-hunting patrol in Helmand in 2010.

The other Rankin photograph is of James Davies, who served 10 tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. He received a Military Cross for gallantry in Afghanistan in 2011, but was later diagnosed with cancer and is now in remission living in a Haig House in Morden with his family.
Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower and former Chief of the General Staff, said: “The images projected onto the walls of the Tower of London show two brave soldiers who both dedicated themselves to serving Queen and country.”

Carol Vorderman switched on the display in her role as Group Captain and Ambassador for the RAF Air Cadets and said ‘I felt so privileged to have been asked. It was a very beautiful and moving exhibition’

The week-long event culminated in a fundraising evening held inside the Tower itself, to mark the charity’s centenary. The event was a huge success raising both funds and awareness for the Coming Home campaign.