Spring Garden Connector Is a “Friendly Face with Welcome Character,” Says LICHT Magazine
Philadelphia’s Spring Garden Connector was recently featured in an article in LICHT, Germany’s premier lighting magazine.
The underpass, which runs below I-95, the Delaware Expressway, and the SEPTA suburban line, links Philadelphia neighborhoods to the Delaware River waterfront. Championed by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, the once a dark and unwelcoming 270-foot long tunnel now touts eye-catching illumination that enhances both pedestrian safety and aesthetics. The Lighting Practice’s design adds lighted portals at the entries to the SEPTA station, which cast through suspended metal artwork and onto the walls. Color-changing lighting reinforces the time of day and provides visual brightness to ameliorate the cave-like effect.
“The lighting concept from The Lighting Practice has made an attractive eye-catcher from the once gloomy undercover and has given the Spring Garden Connector a friendly face with welcome character,” the authors of the article explain (translated from German to English). They note that the design also serves as a public art installation, which has allowed the underpass to become “… more than a part of successful urban development.”
The team at TLP thanks LICHT for featuring this project. Click here to check out the magazine, which expertly addresses trends, innovations, designers and all other aspects of lighting design around the world.
Client
Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC)
Design Team
Technical Engineering: NV5
Graphics: Cloud Gehshan
Lighting Design: The Lighting Practice
Graphics Fabrication: UrbanSign
Product Manufacturer: Philips Color Kinetics
Lighting Controls: Pharos Lighting Control
Color-intense lighting for the Spring Garden Connector in Philadelphia
LIGHT | September 2017
Translated from German to English
Spring Garden Street runs below the twelve-lane Interstate Highway I-95, the Delaware Expressway, and the SEPTA suburban line that connects the center of Philadelphia to the north of the city. The 82-meter-long underpass with access to the platform was much too dark and despite the many professional donors no safe place.
On the initiative of the non-profit organization Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC), which aims at the redevelopment of the urban area around the Delaware Waterfront, several urban redevelopment measures have been implemented to improve and upgrade the infrastructure. In the course of this, Spring Garden Street was also extensively renovated as a main connection between the districts. With a length of almost 6.5 kilometers, the pavement docks have been paved with attractive paving, and lush planting and dense tree rows make Spring Garden Street in this area the ‘greenest street’ of Philadelphia. Additional art installations complete the picture, contribute to an attractive welcome atmosphere and also make the district attractive for private investors.
The 82-meter-long passage as well as the entrance area to the Spring Garden Connector was also creatively redesigned as part of the improvement measures. The lighting practice developed a colorful lighting concept for the underpass and entrance, which now illuminates the formerly too dark and untrustworthy passage in a friendly and bright way, making the pedestrian area more attractive and safer. For this purpose, the forty metal panels were suspended at regular intervals from the ceiling near the wall. The plates are embossed according to different floral patterns and are backlit with Philips Color Kinetics LED color changers.
During the implementation phase of the concept, it soon became clear that more luminaires were needed than initially planned. The manufacturer of the metal panels, UrbanSign, had to develop numerous prototypes and carry out exactly as many lighting experiments until the projection of the light through the punched patterns was right. Panels as well as lighting bodies had to be re-adjusted and adjusted until the desired effect had been achieved. On the entire length of the underpass, a colorful floral leafwork illuminates the walls and the entrance to the Spring Garden Connector. The color changing effects create a pleasant brightness and give the former dark underpass a friendly welcome character.
A light control of Pharos makes it possible to call up different light sets. Thus, the entire lighting subscribes to the daily sunshine and plunges on special days such as, for example, the Fourth of July the underpass in the matching color dress.
The lighting concept from The Lighting Practice has made an attractive eye-catcher from the once gloomy undercover and has given the Spring Garden Connector a friendly face with welcome character. On 20 December 2016, the newly designed Undertaking was opened and has since been more than a part of successful urban development. Press and local residents were equally enthusiastic and see the light concept of TLP for the Spring Garden Connector as a public art installation.
