There’s no question about it, London Underground is part of London’s DNA. So, when we were asked to create a lighting design scheme for New Tube for London, there was no waiting behind the yellow line for us, we were straight on board – opportunities like this don’t come by often.
Working alongside London Transport and PriestmanGoode we designed a scheme that embodies the vision of the next generation of underground trains, which will be rolled out across the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines.
The lighting design took on a very technical nature because the trains won’t go into service until the mid 2020s and will then run for 40 years. Our solution for this futuristic project was to provide visual comfort using warmer colour temperatures, steering away from the traditional blanket lighting approach and instead introducing layers of light and contrast to create visual interest.
With all the buzz around London’s unveiled driverless tube trains, we feel obliged to point out that the futuristic trains are certainly not driver-free. In fact, they most certainly do contain drivers – LED drivers.
Images: © PriestmanGoode
— Ellie Coombs
