Manage Lighting in the City Centre
It is the recommendation of this report that a comprehensive lighting strategy be developed as part of the implementation of any Durham City Vision for Durham City centre with the view to providing an improved quality of experience after dark.
Cities and towns are generally carefully planned by day to provide a pleasing experience for residents, shoppers, the working population, visitors and other visitors; spaces are clearly defined, buildings and other structures appropriately designed and detailed, and hard and soft landscape materials selected to provide both colour and texture and durability. When darkness falls, however, the urban environment often changes in character; the streets and squares become less intelligible, landmarks disappear and the visual quality of forms and surfaces change such that the ‘urban landscape’ becomes an illegible, lower quality experience that can often feel unsafe and uninviting.
Durham, like many cities in the United Kingdom, currently has a range of lighting solutions for the treatment of its streets, major buildings and monuments, bridges and landscaped areas of variable quality that have been designed and developed in a piecemeal fashion over time. Each new lighting intervention continues to be designed individually to meet the requirements of a specific brief or site rather than ‘contextually’ as part of an overall strategy of how Durham may be revealed and enjoyed during the hours of darkness.
As a result the opportunity is lost to create a memorable experience that would serve to enhance the enjoyment of its spaces, architecture and most importantly, its dramatic natural setting during the hours of darkness.
The development of a comprehensive lighting Vision for Durham City centre will provide an approach to the re-lighting of the City in the short, medium and long term. It would identify methods by which the quality of the amenity lighting might be improved to make the streets and squares feel safer but without loss of character.
The lighting strategy will be developed through careful analysis under the following headings:
- Context – consider the natural topography and existing lighting infrastructure
- History – examine the opportunity provided by the existing urban setting and its building stock
- Legibility – look for opportunities to improve comprehension of the City structure
- Place – define and help create character Areas
The strategy should then aim to provide a clear plan of action and guidance on how to balance a wide range of, often conflicting, lighting design criteria including:
- Image – creating a pleasing ambience and memorable image
- Amenity – ensure that appropriate standards are established and met
- Accessibility – improve access to the City after dark for all users
- Safety – positively illuminate changes in level and help contribute to road safety
- Security – assist with reducing the perception of Crime
- Sustainability – reduce energy use and consider whole life cost
- Environmental Impact – control light pollution and impacts on the local ecology
- Cost – help plan capital and operating costs
- Flexibility – develop and approach to infrastructure to support events
