By Susanna Antico
The City of Antwerp required the “most beautifully illuminated station in the World” for the “Cathedral on Rails”, its historical central station initially built at the beginning of the 19th century.
Objectives of the design:
In order to attain the aims set by the city’s brief, on time and in budget, after researching historical data and elaborating the concept, the designers agreed that the project could be brought to a successful end by by emphasizing the main architectural geometries, contours & salient architectural details, creating clear, pleasing, visual hierarchy, eliminating visual noise & answering the following self-imposed criteria:
– Adhere to the lighting masterplan & local, national & international directives, best practice publications, standards & norms
– Create a new nighttime image for the station’s area & the entire city
– Contribute to unambiguous orientation
– Create a feeling & conditions of comfort, safety & security around the station
– Attract residents & visitors to spend time in surroundings, thus encouraging further quality development & boosting night-time economy
All objectives have been achieved (last one requires a longer period of time)
Sustainability
o EU2030 energy efficiency goalss’ compliance @ 100% power (varying scenic levels on daily basis further reduces consumption
o Low level maintenance by quality & longevity of luminaires, sources, gear & accessories. Luminaires, (820 installed) maintainable by single technician; equipment & spare parts available 15 y.; efficacy ? 90 lm/W; Sources – LEDs with CRI, CCT & colour consistency ? 830/338 or 840/338 for roofs’ lighting & life ? 50.000h Ta25? [L70/B10], dimmable 10%-100%; available 15 y.; gear DMX compatible)
o Minimal effect on eco-system @ end of life by recyclable equipment devoid of toxins
o Close coordination with monuments’ commission avoiding need for changes after procurement phase
o Max lighting efficiency (no light “pollution”), no light intrusion into other properties & no glare from all potential viewpoints, avoiding the need for changes after execution
Susanna Antico Lighting Design Studio is a professional practice, involved in architectural, artistic, urban and environmental lighting projects.
The practice focuses on the creation of sustainable night-time identities for the built environment and in parallel on research and education.
The golden thread of the practice is that lighting design philosophy resides in the human scale of matters.
The practice has developed urban lighting projects on different scales that have been published in several professional periodicals in Italy and abroad.
