Lusail Commercial Boulevard is designed with the intent to create a social hub in the Qatari capital, a place of gathering, fun and enjoyment. Restaurants, cafes and retail units make most of the boulevard components and create vibrant, festive and pleasant surroundings.
The lighting design intent is to amplify the vibe and welcoming atmosphere along the boulevard.
Together with HoK Architects, the Delta team engaged in developing street furniture with integrated lighting elements and urban lighting along the walkways and vehicular streets. A family of street lighting poles, pedestrian lighting poles and bollards were developed with the essence of reflecting the local environment. The design is inspired by the Oryx horn, with its distinctive texture and form.
A combination of diffused and various beams optics are integrated within multiple rings of the poles. Diffused light rings are used along the pedestrian walkways to provide vertical illumination on the faces, while enhancing the surroundings with soft glows. Street lighting poles have optics with various beam angles, to ensure proper coverage of the streets and also to comply with local regulations in term of lighting levels and uniformity. Where there is no optic integrated, a diffused light source is utilised to complete the ring shape visually.
A row of rhythmic, inground linear lights is integrated along the tram tracks, adding a sense of dynamics and movement. These light lines are dimmed and only come to full output when trams pass by, with the light effect activating the floor surface and adding a layer of interaction between the boulevard and its components.
Bollards with different optics, designed to serve both the functional need of illumination oo the side service roads and also the pedestrian sideways, are integrated along the boulevard, acting as a visual definition between vehicular and pedestrian routes.
Sparkling light sources are added as pendants above the shaded pedestrian side walkways, resulting in an attractive and welcoming scene where people walk and enjoy their time at the boulevard cafe’s and restaurants.
One of the main challenges of the project was the integration of various optics typologies, to reach the performance criteria set by the design team and achieve the desired visual result. Given the organic shape of the poles rings, it was a challenge to maintain the correct direction of the various light optics, therefore a series of lighting calculations and mock-up tests were undertaken to ensure that performance matches the design intent.
Upon completion, the lighting scheme proved to deliver the intent of creating a place where people gather and celebrate in vibrant surroundings, with a festive and welcoming character.
