Architectural: Doha crystal corridor canopy
The brief
The Crystal Corridor is a pedestrian street in Doha, Qatar, covered by a canopy of steel trees. Each tree branches out into a cluster of hexagon frames filled with glass, and the design called for every hexagon to be outlined in light that could change color for different scenes and events.
That meant a color-changing LED neon flex controlled by DMX512, with RGB for the show colors and a separate 3000K white channel for a warm, clean white. The neon had to sit outdoors in Doha’s heat and dust, so the seal mattered as much as the color.
The hard part was the cable entry. The project needed side cable entry rather than the usual end entry. A DMX RGBW neon carries more conductors than a single-color one, and bringing all of them out through the side of a 16 mm profile while keeping an IP67 seal is difficult to build.
What we supplied
Unitop supplied UT-N1616-TB top-bend silicone LED neon flex in DMX512 RGBW, about 10,500 ft (3,200 m) in total, all at 24V DC.
Our chief engineer and R&D team reworked the side-entry design until the DMX RGBW wiring could exit the profile cleanly and still pass IP67. The neon is silicone-extruded, runs 60 LEDs per meter on a 10 mm, 3 oz copper board, and is fed from both ends to keep color even along each run.
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Model | UT-N1616-TB silicone LED neon flex |
| Bend | Top bend |
| Cross-section | 16 × 16 mm |
| Control | DMX512 |
| Colors | RGB + 3000K white (RGBW) |
| CRI | 90 |
| LED density | 60 LEDs/m (18 LEDs/ft) |
| PCB | 10 mm wide, 3 oz copper |
| Power | 14.4 W/m (4.4 W/ft) |
| Voltage | 24V DC |
| Cable entry | Side entry, fed from both ends |
| IP rating | IP67, silicone extrusion |
| Total quantity | About 10,500 ft (3,200 m) |
The result
The Crystal Corridor was completed in 2024. Every hexagon on the canopy is now outlined in light, and because the neon is DMX-controlled, the same runs can show magenta, blue or cyan depending on the scene.
By day the lines read as a thin colored edge on the steel frames. At night they turn the canopy into the main feature of the street.
For contractors, the takeaway is to settle cable entry early. On a DMX RGBW job, side entry is a custom build, not a standard option, and it needs to be in the drawings before samples are made.
