Forest is a multi-sensory infinity space that uses light, sound, and scent to transport audiences from the urban sprawl into the serenity of a forest. Our lighting design draws inspiration from nature, combining hard and soft light sources and using a variety of colour temperatures to emulate light filtering through the tree canopy to the forest floor.

Each tree is fully LED mapped, enabling us to create animations that mimic the sway of treetops and the passage of nutrients and water through tree trunks. Natural woodchip covers the ground, providing a realistic earthy scent and muffling the audience’s footfalls. The Bailes+Light workshop also crafted innovative new light fixtures that projected a dappled sunbeam effect between the trees. All fixtures were individually controllable and mapped so that different scenes could be programmed to replicate dynamic weather patterns. We created Forest in collaboration with design studio Darling and Edge, and designer Sean Turner.