The Illuminated River Foundation (IRF) is a charity that aims to create a public work of art that can be enjoyed by all, reshaping nighttime views of the Thames and enriching the river’s atmosphere after dark, thereby increasing visitor dwell times in the area.

Where is the project located?
The Thames - London Bridge to Lambeth Bridge
 
Who is the developer/client of the project?
Illuminated River Foundation

The Illuminated River Foundation (IRF) is a charity that set out to provide a public artwork that could be enjoyed by all, transforming night-time views of the Thames and enlivening the river’s atmosphere after dark, increasing visitor dwell times in the area. At the time of our survey in 2018 over half of Londoners had not visited an attraction along the Thames in over a year. 

IRF’s international competition won by our team, led by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands in London in collaboration with New York artist Leo Villareal, sought the best approach to:

- show an awareness of the bridges’ heritage significance and setting as well as engaging with contemporary themes

- propose a vision for all the bridges while responding to each bridge’s architectural and historic characteristics

- display outstanding aesthetic quality

- show innovation and incorporate new ecology and climate-conscious technologies

The artwork covers nine central London bridges and brings The Thames alive at night for local communities and visitors alike. It unifies the experience of the river, at the same time enhancing each bridge’s quality as an independent structure that confers its own civic space.

The project spans the Tower of London and Palace of Westminster UNESCO World Heritage sites, 7 local authorities, 22 wards, 6 parliamentary constituencies and 4 GLA divisions. We consulted with over 80 organisations and lodged 48 planning/listed building applications, all consented at first submission. The project has since been endorsed by UNESCO.

unesco.org.uk/partnership/illuminated-river/

Tell us what you did and how the project, event or installation enlivened the place in a creative way?

This remarkable large-scale public art commission celebrates the architecture and heritage of the Thames bridges as significant and often under-appreciated social and historic landmarks. 

The Thames at night has the potential to be magical. Working with New York-based artist Leo Villareal, we used the latest lighting technologies to create a public artwork that illuminates nine bridges and enhances the riparian landscape over a six-mile stretch of the river in central London.

The artwork draws on the natural and social activity of the embankments, including the kinetic energy of the Thames – barges and boats, cars, pedestrians, trains, and the rising and falling tides. The site-specific computer programming adjusts to this ever-changing movement, using shifting hues that are drawn from the light of the sky at sunset, in moonlight, and at sunrise.

We carefully considered the impacts on heritage and listed structures. The work responds to the different nature of the steel, masonry, suspension, railway and contemporary pedestrian bridges that span this section of the river. The artist can adjust the colour palettes, and set pacing and brightness, in response to the form and context of each bridge.

Minimising the project’s environmental and ecological impact was of paramount importance. We conducted wildlife surveys and documented existing illumination levels, significantly reducing these in many places. New light fittings focus light onto the bridge surfaces, and reduced or avoided light spill on the water. As a result, the scheme optimised energy consumption and rebalanced ambient lighting on the river.
 
Please share any data or figures that support your entry, for example increased footfall, happiness surveys, event attendance and/or observed changes in behaviour. 

Prior to the project the Thames was somewhat underappreciated, for instance our online survey showed 67% of London parents of under-16s said they’d never taken their children on the river. 

Local consultation played a vital role in the development of the project. We engaged with over 80 community stakeholder groups, riverside residents and businesses and conducted numerous one-to-one meetings with a variety of stakeholders including the Port of London Authority, Historic England, Transport for London, and the London Wildlife Trust.

Featured in the River Thames Cultural Vision as an example of ’sensitive night-time cultural programming’, the artwork is encouraging more people to enjoy the river at night. Being outdoor, the artwork has remained accessible throughout 2020-2022 in a Covid-safe manner.

Following completion of the first phase of illumination in April 2019, over 9,000 people participated in IRF’s public programme.

Socially distanced walking tours led by the City of London and Westminster Guides continued throughout the pandemic, including free tours offered to NHS staff and key workers, and the Foundation is subsidising low price boat tours in partnership with Uber Boats by Thames Clippers to increase access to the Thames, as there is currently no free accessible way to enjoy being on the river. Response has been very positive: 98% of visitors like the artwork and 97% think that the artwork positively contributes to the night-time environment.

Up to 137m people will see the artwork every year from air and ground, including c40m pedestrians and an equal number of rail passengers.
 
Did the project make a positive social and environmental contribution? Please provide any evidence or data to support this. 

Social contribution: Free and accessible to all, Illuminated River is inclusive to children and people with disabilities – recordings of the installation are available on both the IRR and VocalEyes websites. Community outreach included themed walks and events and numerous schools’ projects.

The Foundation launched a Community Fund, supporting locally generated projects and activities that respond to the Illuminated River artwork and engage hard to reach and disadvantaged groups. Events included a riverside procession and family festival led by Emergency Exit Arts, as well as heritage tours of the Thames and its bridges led by Living Bankside.

Environment: We worked with several wildlife agencies, carrying out extensive luminance and wildlife surveys. We took great care to reduce energy/light spill compared with existing installations, improving the environment for birds, bats and aquatic species.

Measures included:

- targeting and controlling light onto surfaces using precise LED fittings

- lighting each bridge to a level matched to its background

- using dynamic sequences that reduce energy by up to a third, compared to static content

- working with natural colours for the lighting and gentle kinetic sequences that are purposely less disturbing to fish/bird migration than static illumination

The energy consumption for the nine bridges equates to approximately 10KW per bridge, equivalent to roughly 5 domestic heaters each. The installation is networked to an automatic monitoring system that reports any faults in a fitting. Although the artwork has a 10-year duration, the lighting equipment has an expected life of up to 20 years.