Massive LED digital art screen installed next to Metrotown Station

May 27 2020, 12:20 am

On a typical day, tens of thousands of daily commuters travelling through Burnaby’s Metrotown area on SkyTrain will be able to spot a standout public art piece deemed the largest urban art screen in North America.

Local developer Rize Alliance says it has tested its new giant LED public art installation at the north tower of its newly completed Gold House mixed-use redevelopment at 6377 McKay Avenue — the southwest corner of the intersection of Beresford Street and McKay Avenue, immediately west of Metrotown Station.

This is a three-storey, mesh LED screen that wraps around the exterior of the second, third, and fourth floors of the building, facing north and east. It has a length of about 160 ft and an area of over 4,300 sq ft.

gold house metrotown led screen

LED public art screen of Gold House at 6377 McKay Avenue, Burnaby. (Rize Alliance)

Altogether, there are 143,352 LED pixels with the capability to illuminate high-definition imagery and videos.

But this screen will be exclusively used as a public art canvas, curated by the Burnaby Art Gallery. No commercials will be displayed.

This is the latest addition to the municipal government’s Beresford Art Walk — an outdoor strip from Willingdon Avenue to Dow Street that features a dense collection of major public art works, in partnership with the developers of the area’s redevelopments.

gold house metrotown led screen

LED public art screen of Gold House at 6377 McKay Avenue, Burnaby. (Rize Alliance)

Beresford Avenue is envisioned by the city to become a vibrant street, with redevelopments creating ground-level retail and restaurant space that activate the widened sidewalk and broader public realm.

The 41-storey north tower and the 26-storey south tower of Gold House, designed by Chris Dikeakos Architects, contains 490 homes and over 19,000 sq ft of retail and office space between the ground and fourth levels. The complex’s name is derived from its bright yellow exterior design elements.

gold house metrotown led screen

Artistic rendering of the LED public art screen of Gold House at 6377 McKay Avenue, Burnaby. (Rize Alliance)

gold house 6377 McKay Avenue Burnaby

Artistic rendering of Gold House at 6377 McKay Avenue, Burnaby. (Rize Alliance)

Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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