Lighting Design Advisor Mark Major | Lighting Designers Mark Major, Clementine Fletcher Smith |
Scoping Study - Light + Wrap Mark Major, Philip Rose | Scoping Study - LOCOG Olympic Overlay, London Bridges Mark Major, Jessica Zanotto |
Olympic Athlete's Village Mark Major, Clementine Fletcher Smith, Ewan Parsons | Bow West Concrete Batching Plant Mark Major, Philip Rose, Hiroto Toyoda |
Peter Lewis Waterfall Philip Rose | Photographer James Newton, Jason Hawkes |
Recognising the critical role of lighting in shaping the brand, visual identity and experience of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) appointed us as overall ‘Lighting Design Advisor’ to the project in 2009.
Our remit was to take a holistic look at the public lighting, with a view to providing a set of guidelines for design cohesion, consistent quality, and careful management of environmental impacts across the site, particularly energy use and light pollution.
Alongside our lighting masterplan for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, we also developed several key scoping studies, proposing treatments that boosted the visual impact of the park and select London landmarks, and were the lighting designers for several specific elements of the final installed lighting systems.
Having reviewed the initial lighting masterplan that had been created as part of the Parks and Public Realm contract, we revised the recommendations, particularly with respect to lighting levels, adding guidance on colour temperature and the overall quality of light.
We also proposed a strategy for the lighting of public art and advocated for common procurement of equipment to streamline maintenance and deliver the commercial benefits afforded by economies of scale.
The outcome was a comprehensive Lighting Masterplan covering both the Games-time and Legacy phases.
The overlay described concepts for temporary lighting across key landscape and structural elements during the Games. The overlay aimed to elevate the overall night-time identity of the park—enhancing branding, adding character, and improving wayfinding for safe and intuitive circulation.
Working in collaboration with Populous, Allies & Morrison, and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, we proposed a cost-effective “kit of parts” approach. This included lighting elements adaptable to various conditions, designed around 2012 brand colour schemes specific to each venue, with a clear visual language to distinguish dwell zones from movement corridors.
Suggested techniques included moonlighting through trees via temporary columns, coloured uplighting of raked seating and tent structures, festoon lighting in trees, and the use of coloured filters on amenity lighting.
The overlay was ultimately delivered by a range of designers and manufacturers.
We also recognized that aerial shots would necessarily include all of London, and key landmarks were identified for possible treatment during the Games.
From this, we produced a scoping study for the London bridges focused on creating a ‘wow’ moment that would reinforce the branding of the games, using the strong 2012 colour palette and adding event based, interactive and thoroughly British quirky effects.
At the request of the ODA, we developed a series of lighting treatments aimed at enhancing the night-time visual impact of key Olympic venues. These proposals supplemented the baseline lighting and focused on creating a strong three-dimensional presence—hence the term ‘wrap’.
The concepts for treatments were designed for the temporary seating, crown, and wrap elements of the Olympic Stadium, as well as for the Hockey, Handball, Aquatics, Water Polo, Basketball, and Velodrome venues. Several of these concepts were later realised by various designers and manufacturers.
Beyond strategic oversight, we were also appointed as lighting designers for specific elements within the park:
Olympic Athletes Village
We were appointed to design the public realm lighting for the Legacy condition of the Athletes’ Village. This was part of the wider Stratford City development and provided temporary accommodation during the Games. Our solution was based on clear hierarchy that supported intuitive wayfinding, reinforced the distinction between urban and landscaped zones, and met sustainability, safety, and security goals. Selected green spaces remained unlit to discourage night use and protect biodiversity. This in turn helped minimise light pollution supporting residential amenity. We designed, specified and detailed all the public lighting for the project including providing a full controls system with step-dimming to help reduce energy use, while a restrained palette of equipment and consistent colour temperature ensured visual cohesion throughout by both day and after dark
Bow West Concrete Batching Plant
A working concrete batching plant located adjacent to the VIP entrance to Games was not able to be moved. We therefore helped transform it into a strong representation of the colourful London 2012 brand.
We provided a combination of washes, accents and shadows to define the form, and adding dichroic glass filters to deliberately shift the colour allowing it to softly graduate from yellow through to magenta.
Read more here.
Truce Wall
The ‘Truce Wall’ was a light-based artwork designed by Glowacka Rennie Architects at the entrance to the Athlete’s Village.
We illuminated the base of the acrylic columns, allowing them to glow and producing ‘catches’ of light along the edges, creating layers of light and shadow in a London 2012 style kaleidoscopic effect.