Award-winning lighting design at Rånåsfoss power station in Norway

Modern luminaires, with a design that is sympathetic to the industrial environment, provide accent light to key objects within the space, whilst integration details illuminate the original facades. The light creates an enhanced sense of depth within the room and becomes the bridge between the old and the new elements of the space. By using a high level of vertical light to both the internal brick facade and the external facade, the glazing that separates the inside from outside visually disappears. Undesirable reflections are minimized and the volume of the building is extended out beyond the line of the glazing.

The old machine hall has been preserved within the power station and now features an exhibition about hydropower and energy. The visitor centre welcomes more than 7.000 school kids each year where they can learn about renewable energy.

In addition to emphasizing the striking architecture and creating a suitable environment for exhibitions, the lighting was also designed to meet the high demands of task lighting in an operating industrial building where light levels and uniformity must be met. To avoid over-illuminating the space, feature lighting to the architecture was calculated and used as part of the general lighting to the space, all adding up to an efficient lighting design where the amount of visible product could be kept to a minimum.

Client: Akershus Energi Vannkraft AS

Architect: LPO arkitekter

Electrical contractor: Oppland Elektro AS

Lighting suppliers: iGuzzini, Osram, ERCO, Fagerhult, Glamox