Art installation designed to illuminate at sunset unveiled in Vancouver's West End

Westbank Corporation commissioned Vancouver-based artist Neil Campbell to design the piece for the developer's mixed-use retail and residential Zephyr building on Davie Street. (Photo: @westbankcorp/Instagram

Vancouver's vibrant West End community is home to one of the city's newest public art installations, which was designed to light up the neighbourhood at sunset.

Westbank Corporation commissioned Vancouver-based artist Neil Campbell to design the piece for the developer's mixed-use retail and residential Zephyr building on Davie Street.

Campbell's work has been featured at several exhibitions across the globe, including at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

In a social media post Wednesday, Westbank Corp. stated that the installation was created to illuminate the building's facade with a series of animated light boxes that generate "a colourful and rhythmic display."

The installation, which is also called Zephyr, was designed to respond to its changing environment by illuminating at sunset according to the time of day and season.

"The colours of the display will also evolve over time," the post reads.

On their website, Westbank added that the state-of-the-art LED screens were inspired by the "beautiful natural environment and the colours and light of the West End" and Campbell's piece "will act as a living canvas."

While the installation's brightness is now quite subtle, that wasn't always the case.

In 2020 and 2021, several concerned residents complained about not getting any shuteye, when a programming issue resulted in bright white lights glowing late at night.

"Unfortunately, during testing, a technical error occurred involving a bypass system, and two lightpads were unintentionally left on. We sincerely apologize to the community and Safeway for this situation. We will be creating a 24-hour monitoring system to ensure the light installation operates only within programmed hours going forward,” Westbank told CTV News in a statement in March of last year, after the LED light display was kept on into the early hours of the morning.