The lighting design at Svindersvik Bridge adds eco-friendly elegance visible from land and water.

As the Swedish capital keeps attracting inhabitants, new areas like the Kvarnholmen peninsula in the southern archipelago is being urbanized at an impressive rate. A new tunnel and bridge now links the central parts of Nacka to Kvarnholmen. The combination of improved transportation, flourishing businesses, modern housing and proximity to nature has made the area one of the most appealing places to live within the Stockholm region.

The tunnel and bridge were inaugurated in June 2016. Light Bureau has designed the lighting for them both.

“The parallel semicircles of the bridge made us think of wedding rings, especially when reflected by the water surface. That’s how we came up with our design concept”, says lighting designer Jessica Johansson.

The decorative lighting has a natural colour palette of white, blue and amber. Colours that work well with the initial concept idea and that harmonize with the colours of the sky at dawn and dusk. Working closely with the company that designed the actual bridge, Light Bureau were able to influence the tone of the white-grey paint on various parts of the bridge. This helped achieve the perfect lighting result.

The functional and the decorative lighting is switched on and off via the municipal lighting system. However, during the day, a local control system automatically changes the lighting scenarios for the arches, depending on the time of day and the season. To achieve the best result, Light Bureau conducted a solar study to identify the sun’s exact positions and angles throughout the year and then developed scenarios that would complement the bridge in the best way.

Great measures were also taken to counteract light pollution and glare for users on the bridge as well as on the water. The amount of functional light decreases during low traffic, which lends more focus to the decorative lighting, and the luminaires have been very precisely placed and directed to follow the curvature of the arcs. Also, since the area is situated close to a wildlife reserve, optics and shields have been carefully selected, to ensure that the lighting does not affect the natural surroundings.

The Svindersvik Bridge is a prime example of Nordic light design with a strong symbolic message. A striking landmark and a pleasant, safe traffic environment has been created through a well-balanced combination of functional and aesthetic lighting. With great precision, light pollution is avoided against the surrounding nature, without compromising the design and concept.

In 2018 the lighting design at Svindersvik Bridge received the IALD Award of Merit.