LED tunnel lighting in the Gildehof tunnel at Essen
Very dark and uninviting - the Gildehof Tunnel was undoubtedly one of the places in Essen that people used to avoid, especially as pedestrians. This is no longer the case since summer 2023. Thanks to the implementation of a light installation by Essen-based architect and lighting designer Peter Brdenk, the tunnel now shines in new splendour. The installation combines functional and artistic lighting and was largely realised with NORKA luminaires. It is an impressive example of how a formerly inhospitable place can be enhanced with a creative lighting design and won the Audience Award at the German Lighting Design Award 2024.
At around 170 m long and almost 13 m wide, the Gildehof Tunnel is one of the largest underpasses in Essen's city centre. The three-lane road tunnel is in the immediate vicinity of Essen's main railway station and passes under the railroad tracks. It is divided into three sections: The first section measures approx. 24 m with a flat ceiling and a height of approx. 7 to 8.50 m. Section number 2 measures approx. 42 m with an average height of just under 13 m and has a flat ceiling. The longest section is the round arch tunnel, which is almost 100 m long. Due to the many years of dirt on the walls and ceilings and the dark road surface, the tunnel, which had previously been illuminated with high pressure sodium lamps, only had an extremely low degree of reflection. However, refurbishment or complete cleaning was not under discussion and the reflectance factor remains low. As the use of the underground passage was also to become more attractive for pedestrians, the emotional effect of light and an appropriate design with light and luminaires play a key role in addition to sufficient brightness.
With Peter Brdenk from the Planwerk Essen architectural office, an experienced lighting designer was brought on board who has dedicated himself to lighting design in public spaces and architecture for more than 30 years and has already realized many projects in the Ruhr region and beyond.
I have always been fascinated by the possibilities of bringing architecture and light art together. With every project, I create a new nocturnal appearance and a special effect in the dark.“
— Peter Brdenk, Planwerk Essen architectural office
This was also the case with the Gildehof Tunnel, for which he developed an illumination of high emotional quality in collaboration with Sid Ahmed Boudia. The design idea is based on order, uniformity, clarity, and brightness by means of closely spaced, geometric luminaires, but also on contrast to disorder. Three different LED luminaire types are used: a tubular luminaire, a wall-mounted luminaire, and a spotlight.
NORKA tubular luminaires of the ZUG LED type with a length of around 1,400 mm, a diameter of 75 mm and a medium beam light characteristic are installed close together on both long sides of the tunnel and line the roadway. While the ZUG LEDs in the second tunnel section with a flat ceiling are installed at approx. 1.40 m, the distance in the round arch tunnel is approx. 2.40 m. The luminaires with high intensity provide sufficient brightness despite the low reflectance of the walls. The continuous sequence of luminaires is interrupted by approximately 800 mm long ZUG LED tube luminaires, which shine in blue light colour, and round wall luminaires of the type PHALANX 430 with a light field diameter of 300 mm. In addition, LED spotlights project blue arcs of light onto the tunnel arch at regular intervals. The lighting system is DALI-controlled and has day and night circuits. To avoid an unpleasant dark/light contrast at night when entering the tunnel and disturbing glare, the lighting is automatically dimmed down to 50 percent via a centrally controlled signal in the evening and night hours and then raised again in the morning.
To emphasize the design of the entrance portal, the lettering 'GILDEHOF' was applied to the east wall in graphic capital letters. Above it is a line of PHALANX wall lights, the course of which marks the lower edge of all the lights installed in the tunnel. In addition, the arrangement of the PHALANX 430 luminaires conceals a latent piece of information: the city name Essen can be read here in Morse alphabet. In 2004, the underground tunnel to the left of the station was designed in an equivalent way and is illuminated in blue and white - which today creates a lighting design bracket.
We are delighted that the Gildehof Tunnel has been enhanced by the artistic light installations.“
— Simone Raskob, Head of the Environment, Transport and Sport Department of the City of Essen
Simone Raskob of the City of Essen emphasized this on the completion of the project in summer 2023. The competition for the German Lighting Design Award 2024 showed that this is also appreciated by a broad specialist public: The audience award, which was presented for the first time this year with the support of the Light + Building trade fair team in Frankfurt, went to Peter Brdenk for the lighting design of the Gildehof Tunnel.
Products used
PHALANX 430 (2 Articles)
Round, impact-resistant surface-mounted luminaire (Ø 43 cm) with IK11+
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