In the heart of England on the site of an ex-WWII airfield, Silverstone is the ‘home of British motor racing’. An icon for all things motorsport where the world’s most recognisable brands, leading engineers and advanced designers come together in what is becoming the UK’s ‘motorsport valley’.
Escapade Living is a 14-acre collection of 60 trackside residences with a multi-function Clubhouse sustainably constructed within a carefully designed landscape encouraging birdlife, insects, flora and fauna to thrive alongside its motorsport enthusiasts.
A few feet behind the Armco barriers sits a slice of green space once used to store wartime Wellington bombers. An ex-airfield completely devoid of trees but bordering ancient, protected woodland provides an incredible opportunity to develop and re-introduce a green environment where planting, wildlife and motorsport can co-exist.
A strict curfew exists to protect the local environment from inherent motoring noise meaning lighting at the racetrack has previously not been a necessity as you leave the circuit confines before dark. Now that the ultimate trackside hospitality venue offers to wine, dine and pamper you after a hard day’s racing the need to creatively illuminate such a space was vital.
Cutting-edge architecture built with sustainable materials and techniques deserves to be well-lit however its proximity to protected countryside and its intention to encourage wildlife and insect-life demanded a sympathetic approach. Strict planning conditions helped guide the scheme whilst sensitive design and clever product specification ensured the buildings were showcased after dark without polluting the local environment guaranteeing the landscape was as welcoming to human life as it was to wildlife.
Through a considered combination of creative design, the latest technology and thoughtful control wayfinding light sources are all concealed and discrete ensuring no upward glare or light spill. Luminaires are purposeful in their addition to the roadway furniture complimenting nearby structures and becoming dual purpose as residence identifiers. Differentiating shared vehicle roads from pedestrian only pathways was achieved through a variety of cohesive bollards and low-level path washers.
Building lighting is kept subtle utilising architectural overhangs to shield minimal facade uplighting from the night-sky whilst surface mounted luminaires all maintain downward light. Consistently warm colour temperature was also of paramount importance when lighting spaces shared by insects and their predators benefitting their habitat as well as softening the hard surfaced architecture.
Enhancing the striking architecture was a challenge whilst being mindful of the above brief. Such a prominent site with regular televised events sometimes in low light should be a beacon on the horizon without flood lighting all and sundry. A scheme was developed where low-output glowing lines could be embedded into the timber clad Clubhouse. Otherwise invisible during daylight hours the linear LED strips don’t distract from the clean, sharp angles but as night falls the building becomes a draw for hospitality and relaxation highlighted by streaks of light adding a new depth to the façade. Meanwhile taking inspiration from the electrifying film ‘Tron’ the trackside residences were given a glowing outline further boosting their outspoken shapes. All without projecting light onto or from the built surfaces and keeping the ‘green’ spaces in an all-important shadow.
