Leading-edge lighting design consultacy Nulty, has recently completed work on the
regeneration of Leake Street Arches in London’s Waterloo, including lighting 300m of
dramatic street art.
Originally brought to fame by notorious street artist Banksy, Leake
Street, also known as the iconic ‘graffiti tunnel’, links Lower Marsh to the South Bank
and is one of London’s most popular urban street art locations. As one of the few legal
walls in the UK where artists can express their creativity in public, the atmospheric
tunnel is a haven for graffiti artists around the world to leave their mark.
Working closely with the developers LCR, Nulty’s main objective was to highlight and
celebrate the artwork, whilst improving the quality of the light throughout this urban and
individual space.
Based in offices just beside Waterloo Station, Nulty Director, Ellie
Coombs says “It’s not often you get a project right on your doorstep. It was fantastic to
have the opportunity to collaborate with our local community and be part of the
development of an urban space that our team know, love and use on a daily basis.”
The Nulty concept brings the tunnel to life through the innovative use of light.
Light serves as a canvas for the artwork to be displayed clearly as well as creating visual
stimulation for both artists and visitors.
When designing the lighting scheme three main elements were taken into
consideration: The space had to be flexible for future events, the light fittings had to be
robust and the scheme had to showcase the unique and ever-changing artwork on the
tunnel’s walls.
The lighting design within the tunnel features a theatrical truss suspended down the
underpass. Mounted on the truss are a series of spotlights that provide gallery-quality
lighting to pick up on the colourful artwork.
During the design process Nulty worked closely with Secure by Design (SBD) to ensure
that any light fixtures used within the tunnel could withstand wear and tear. Bespoke
spotlights were designed to have an anti-glare cowl, for a more theatrical appearance,
along with a secondary glass lens that can be easily removed and cleaned, should
fittings be spray painted over.
Linear RGBW (red, green, blue and white) uplights were mounted on top of the truss to
illuminate the arched ceiling with a wash of white light and highlight the architecture of
the space. The uplights have colour-changing capabilities that can be tailored to create
various moods for different events within the tunnel.
Accent lighting is provided by light fixtures that have been carefully mounted at the
base of the arches, above the nearby retail units, to celebrate the curved architecture of
the space.
