FOREST APPROACH USES MOD 2.0 FOR AESTHETICALLY PLEASING, EFFECTIVE LIGHTING

Longmile Road approach to Whakarewarewa forest now has stylish and effective lighting, which is receiving great reviews.

The aim of the project is to provide illumination to assist cyclists navigate from the forest after dusk and enable pedestrian access to evening amenities located on Longmile Road. The lighting was not designed to illuminate the access road.

The brief also had an Aesthetic requirement for lights to be decorative and sympathetic to the forest environment.

Function

The lamps have been installed to improve safety and visibility for people using the shared path, cycleway and road at night and are a lower height and dimmer than a standard street lamp. 3000k colour LED lamps have been used for visual comfort, delivering minimal energy consumption with good optical performance and glare performance, while not taking away from the beauty of the night time forest. In total, 34 new luminaires have been installed down Long Mile Rd between Tarawera Rd and Nursery Rd. They are connected to the Unison network and turn on as daylight fades.

Aesthetics

Sleek and contemporary styled luminaires with a red-brown corten-style finish, blend in beautifully with the forest environment. The all-Aluminium construction, placed on a concrete pad foundation, is designed to reduce corrosion likelihood from Rotorua environments.

Redwoods Treewalk co-founder Bruce Thomasen, speaking to Rotorua Daily Post, said the new lamps were already benefiting people visiting the forest at night. “The new Long Mile Rd pathway and lighting is fantastic and adds a sense of arrival. Previously visitors and local users of the walking trails, mountain bike tracks, dog park and of course our Treewalk visitors had to navigate a dark forest road from around 5.30pm in winter.  The lighting poles themselves blend in with the environment and at night beautifully illuminate the pathway, the ferns and the trees extending down Long Mile Rd,” he said.

Project: The project was designed by WSP-Opus for client Rotorua Lakes Council. The work is part of the Whakarewarewa Forest development, a collaborative project between Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao, CNI Iwi Holdings and Rotorua Lakes Council.

MOD 2.0: This adaptable range of luminaires has been used effectively to achieve the desired lighting and aesthetic effect. MOD 2.0 Urban 250 luminaires on RX3 Poles, all in Corten finish.