Testing with a demonstrator The municipality of Veldhoven, the Netherlands, asked THE LUX LAB to design a smart lighting solution for a bicycle path that runs through an ecological zone. The proposed solution aims to use different lighting settings (varying in colour and intensity) at different times to accomodate different stakeholders.
In the early evening the path is intensively used by commuters, particularly children heading home. This is why lighting was placed in that zone in the first place. Cyclists feelings of safety and comfort are increased with more light, as people need more light when dusk is setting. Later in the evening, as traffic eases the light dims to a light that is less disturbing for animals and plants, but still provides good visibility for cyclists. The yellowish light offers good visibility at significant lower energy use caused by led efficiency in such colour range combined with high sensitivity of people's eyes to these wavelenghts. During the night as there is hardly any traffic the wild life becomes the most important stakeholder. Therefor, the light is dimmed to the equivalent of full moonlight, which does not disturb animals and at the same time requires significantly less energy while stays aesthetically pleasing. In the morning bright cool white light is used to increase the alertness of the cyclists.
The proposed solution differs from traditional lighting installations as it aims not just to reduce the energy use but at the same time to increase life quality in the ecological zone while not sacrificing safety of the road users. The role of the designer is to understand the needs and requirements from the various stakeholders, and to integrate seemingly opposing needs into a solution that is attractive, or at least acceptable, to them. The difficulty in these kinds of projects is that the solution is very different from what is currently available, so for the stakeholders to be able to judge the concept they will have to be able to imagine it. Moreover, to address issues like perceived safety and comfort means that potential users should be able to assess the intangible values of the concept.
Testing traditional lighting for public spaces involves comparison of different lamp types or lighting settings for a similar purpose. In this case, as the different light settings were part of the same concept we knew that some conditions, like night setting, would be perceived as less safe due to its low luminance. So, the question was not which of these settings would be preferred but whether using different settings over the course of the night is acceptable for different stakeholders. Furthermore, we wanted to know if such people knowing that such lighting aims to accommodate flora and fauna in the ecological zone would influence their acceptance. |