STREETSCAPE GUIDANCE

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INTRODUCTION
PART A
A vision for London’s streets
PART B
From strategy to delivery
PART C
New measures for new challenges
PART D
Balancing priorities
PART F
Appendix
PART E
Physical design and materials
SECTION 6
Introduction
SECTION 7
High quality footways
SECTION 8
Carriageways
SECTION 9
Crossings
SECTION 10
Kerbside activity
SECTION 11
Footway amenities
SECTION 12
Safety and functionality
SECTION 13
Street environment
SECTION 14
Transport interchanges
Streetscape Guidance
[Part E – Physical design and materials] Street environment 299
Illuminated signs and bollards
Illuminated signs and bollards are to be specified
and installed in accordance with current TSRGD
requirements.
Feature lighting
Although the primary purpose of TfL road
lighting is to illuminate the carriageway and
the footpaths, consideration is also given for
ensuring a pleasing aesthetic appearance.
Requests for additional feature lighting will be
considered on a case-by-case basis.
Figure 294: Combined lighting column and
signal head
Silent Lights by Urban Matter
New York City, USA
Playful lighting that responds to sound as
vehicles pass overhead
Key functions
Opportunity
The challenge for Urban Matter was to transform
the area under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
in New York.
The underpass sits in a semi-industrial
landscape surrounded by heavy motorway traffic.
The pedestrian path is empty, dark, intimidating
and avoided by locals.
Benefits
The spectacle provides a playful way of lighting
the space and also gives a sense of safety at night.
The ‘gates’ act as a wayfinding device to define
a pathway at human scale across what would
otherwise be a non-place.
Implementation
To create Silent Lights, a series of sensory gates
were installed. These use sensors to respond to
the noise of the traffic above. Coloured lights
illuminate sequentially as vehicles pass overhead.
Image courtesy of Flickr/triebensee
Image courtesy of Urban Matter Inc.
Applying in London
This has the potential to be delivered
in similarly forgotten urban underpass
locations, such as the A12 through
Hackney.