The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum

Belfast, UK

A museum of international renown, the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum is regarded as being amongst the best of its kind in the world. Set in over 170 acres of rolling landscape overlooking Belfast Lough, visitors can wander through the past and discover how people lived and travelled through the centuries. Young and old can climb aboard the majestic steam locomotives or experience the sensation of flight in the Transport Museum.

In 2011 the museum opened an exhibition dedicated to the ill-fated Titanic, which had been constructed by local ship builders Harland and Wolff. The exhibition's opening coincided with the centenary of the ship's maiden voyage and showcased more than 500 original artefacts including plans of the ship and items rescued from its sunken hull.

UFO's fibre optic products were chosen to illuminate the historic artefacts, as no heat or ultraviolet rays would be emitted from the end points of the light and so would not cause any irreversible damage to the exhibition's delicate items.

Adjustable downlights were installed in the ceiling of each display cabinet and could be easily be tilted and rotated by the museum personnel to highlight specific aspects of the display below. Each downlight was connected to an individual strand of glass fibre that ran through vertical tubing to the base of the case where it is powered by our light sources. The black tubing which was used to conceal the fibre was placed in the corner of each display case, allowing it to blend seamlessly with the display cases and ensure that it didn't distract visitors' attention from the items on show.

A tungsten halogen light source was located in the base of each display and could easily be accessed by the museum personnel as and when maintenance was required. Our Ixion and Aurora models were chosen due to their compact size, and cool and quiet running.

Images courtesy of Click Netherfield Ltd | Photography by Rory Moore