Centre Street Bridge, Calgary, AB

Lighting Design Innovations, founded by the partnership of Paul and Kimberly Mercier, incorporates lighting into architecture, in a way that both humanizes and complements the space and environment. LDI believes that understanding the owner’s needs and vision, and our dedication to a team approach, will lead to a successful project.With offices in Alberta and New York, LDI has participated in and completed many interior, exterior, and artistic lighting projects across the United States and Canada since 2000.

The firm’s commitment to environmental sustainability compels a project approach that minimizes the impact of lighting energy consumption. LDI accomplishes this by promoting appropriate lighting technologies and application solutions to create high quality and functional spaces and environments for life and living.

Project spotlight: Centre Street Bridge Calgary, AB
Calgary’s Centre Street Bridge is approaching its centennial year in 2016 and this sandstone structure defines a major centre city, thoroughfare.
LDI designers were challenged to create a respectful acknowledgement of this heritage asset after dark. Featuring the structure through illumination, provides a visitor experience at night that differs from the daytime experience while preserving the original intent of the structure’s ornamentation.

Four ornate lions on plinths demarcate the pedestrian entry points to the bridge. The understructure features three river archways punctuated by piers. An arch over Memorial Drive is adorned with a medallion commemorating the bridge.
The bridge satisfies multiple urban design categories, defined in the city’s planning and guideline documents: entry, path, landmark, and historic and cultural resource. The new lighting design had to meet the requirements of each of these categories of usage and value.
3000K, LED sources wash the bridge understructure in light that accurately renders the colour of the bridge finishes. The understructure luminaires are a small diameter linear with a custom paint finish to disappear from view during daytime. The arches, now highlighted, draw attention to the engineering feat required to cross the Bow River in the early 1900s.
Previously unlit, the Lions are now illuminated with 3000K, 8W warm white adjustable LED accent lights that are mounted on custom fabricated rails. The rail design minimizes points of attachment to the plinth while maximizing adjustability of aiming. The finish colour and dimensions of the rails minimize appearance in the scene.

The replica globe sconces of the lion pavilions are now lamped with a lower wattage, 3200K CMH source to match the warm white colour of the new architectural feature lighting. The lower lamp wattage reduces viewer glare and improves appreciation of the Lions.

3000K, 8W LED fixtures are mounted to the arms of the replica globe sconces and are aimed downward to visually delineate the corners of each pavilion. Small accent lights allow aiming for highlight and shadow on the Lions.
Fill light is provided for the Bison Head with 3000K, 8W LED, mounted on existing streetlight poles.

GOBO images are projected on the sidewalk entering the pavilions and enhance the pedestrian experience with color and landmark symbolism.
Existing streetlights were group relamped. The Memorial Drive arch medallions are spot lighted with the same LED luminaire used for the understructure. 16 hours of nighttime commissioning realized the designed scene.
Piers were purposefully unlit to punctuate the plunging of the arches into the river. Precision aiming of all light ensures surfaces are properly illuminated without the stray scattering of light into the line of sight of observers and drivers.
In 2013, this project was nominated for an International Award of Excellence in Lighting Design and received the DE Frost Award for Best Lighting Design in Southern Alberta. In 2012, this project received a Lion Award from the City of Calgary Department of Heritage Conservation.
Find out more about LDI, including other award-winning projects: www.lightingdesigninnovations.com.