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than as an afterthought. However, the ultimate
success of this movement will be defined by the
fate of the big cities. Much work still needs to be
done to demonstrate that urban areas can also be
equipped with environmentally friendly lighting.
While rural communities are more accustomed to
darkness, it can still be intimidating concept for
the city dwellers. Maybe demonstrating successful
applications of less light would be an appropriate
approach for the cities to start with.
Is it easier to work with small communities or big
cities?
Both are fun. We have found that the more you
involve people, organisations and authorities
in the design and decision-making process, the
more they become influential stakeholders who
ensure the longevity of the project. Because
of my experience in community work, I really
enjoy achieving something meaningful through a
collective grassroots approach - from the bottom
up. When you create a Dark Sky project, you need
to make sure it lasts and you can only do that if
people feel that they are part of the process. It
should be their making, not something imposed
on them or decided for them behind closed
doors. The Dark Sky movement relies heavily on
collaboration at all levels.
Small communities can be agile and fast when
they set their minds to a goal. Larger authorities
and municipalities need more time because
they have to deal with more bureaucracy due
to the large number of stakeholders. However,
large authorities can set long-term goals and
develop highly ambitious projects that can have
a significant impact. There are certainly pros and
cons to both sides and the two spheres are not
completely separate. For example, we worked
closely with the community of Presteigne and
Norton to create the first Dark Sky Community
in Wales. The lighting improvement project was
a great success because it had the full support
of the local and the County Council. This
prompted Powys County Council to consider
rolling similar schemes out across the county,
thereby empowering many other communities to
pursue dark skies accreditation if they so choose.
The Presteigne dark skies plan exemplifies how
a small community might be bestowed with an
agency and platform to transform their nocturnal
environment, yet strikingly, it has had a far more
extensive impact across Wales, an outcome that
was entirely unanticipated.
Speaking of stakeholders and projects, can you
give us a specific project that illustrates this
alternative perspective for on eco-centric lighting
design?
One of my favourite projects is the Newport Dark
Sky masterplan which is located on the west
coast of Ireland in County Mayo. The project
was commissioned with the aim of eliminating
the light pollution, a growing concern for the
region due to the town’s proximity to Mayo Dark
Sky Park which is home to a rich but sensitive
nocturnal biodiversity. Working closely with the
local community, an architectural lighting design
proposal was developed that would continue
to celebrate the church building but avoid
light pollution whilst enhancing the night-time
experience for both people and biodiversity.
St Patrick’s Church is located in Newport, and
is a small town with a big ambition to become
the first Dark Sky Community in Ireland. The
local community sought a design solution to
tackle light pollution caused by the town’s
revered landmark architecture. The project aims
to demonstrate how the judicious use of light
can eliminate light pollution and protect the
environment while creating a strong night-time
image. This empowering project illustrates the
effectiveness of small but organised communities
in taking environmental action despite the lack of
resources.
Community involvement was an important part of
the design development, with activities ranging
from participation in the lighting tests to the
installation of light shields on site. Local opinion
was vigorously sought through several public
consultations to ensure that the lighting design
struck a healthy balance between the needs of the
people and the biodiversity.
The project advocates the visual and physical
manifestation of an environmental ethos through
the considerate use of light on a publicly respected
architecture as a communication platform. The
project challenges the conventional wisdom
that architecture needs to be fully lit to show its
purpose or communicate its value. It reverses the
relationship between light and dark by highlighting
the carefully selected features of the architecture,
while leaving unlit surfaces in abundance to
provide a confident canvas and strong outline of
the building against the night sky. Up-lighting is
only used where light spill can be contained within
architectural features such as niches and recesses.
Back-lighting of the windows on the front façade
adds visual interest by revealing the design of the
arched windows and the colourful stained glass.
All other windows borrow light from the interior
lighting as they are not actively lit. The ability to
view the warmly lit windows from different angles
throughout the project was intended to create a
homely and welcoming glow while the church is
open to visitors.
The previous lighting scheme solely focused on
emphasising the verticality of the architecture
through excessive floodlighting whilst the new
lighting aimed to restructure this hierarchy
by balancing the vertical and the horizontal
experience. As a result, the church grounds were
treated as an extension of the façade lighting
to encourage social activity after dark. This
transformed the church’s night-time role from
being an object of interest to a destination worth
visiting both for the locals and visitors.
The new lighting scheme, which has resulted in a
reduction of 2 tonnes of CO2e per year (including
the re-lamping of the interior), aims to demonstrate
that even a façade lighting project can create a
strong night-time image through the judicious
use of light. 2200K CCT (warm white) has been
used throughout to minimise the environmental
impact whilst providing a consistently warm and
Lighting trials in the community
of Newport, Ireland.
Design: Kerem Asfuroglu
Wellbeing
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