AQUALUC LED light lines highlight a new landmark in Denmark

Køge North Station is a new gateway to Copenhagen for almost 40,000 inhabitants of the Danish port city of Køge. In future, numerous commuters and travellers will be able to cover the 45 kilometer route by train efficiently and sustainably in just 24 minutes. The architecture and technical design create a pleasurable travel experience. The futuristic-looking pedestrian bridge, which connects the new twin-track high-speed Copenhagen-Ringsted line and the existing S-Bahn line, across the heavily used A1 motorway, enhances this experience. The project was awarded the ISBSE Denmark`s Structure Award 2019 for its exceptional architecture and is in the final of the MIPIM Awards 2020.

The canopied bridge of the Køge North Station extends over a total length of 225 metres and is invitingly designed. It offers passengers both an open view to the north and smaller openings in the inner wooden panels to the south. This creates open areas as well as zones where passengers can linger. Between the wooden panels inside the slightly curved bridge, LED light lines of the AQUALUC W:AVE series with a color temperature of 3200 Kelvin were integrated as primary lighting.

Light concept inspired by Mikado

The idea behind the lighting concept comes from the game "Mikado". "There should be no system or rhythm in the arrangement of the light lines. Rather, the lighting should convey a randomness", says Carsten Svej, managing director of Relight planning office. This was made possible both by the product flexibility of the AQUALUC LED light lines and by the joint development with Barthelme of a project-specific profile to accommodate the LED light lines. This development made it possible to install the light lines at any position on the bridge, although the spaces between the individual wooden elements have different distances.

With their high lumen output, the integrated AQUALUC W:AVE light lines also exceed the minimum illuminance requirement of 100 lux on the floor surface of the crossing. The light lines with protection class IP 67 were manufactured project-specifically in lengths of 1 m, 2 m, 3 m and 4.5 m and joined together end-to-end on site. Due to the use of translucent end caps, there is no unsightly shadow formation. In this way, continuous, homogeneous LED light lines in lengths of up to 18 m could be realised between the wooden beams.

AQUALUC integrated in handrails

The planner also used AQUALUC W:AVE light lines for the 20 m long handrails at each of the stairways to the bridge: "The interesting thing for this area was that we could use the same product for the stairs that we used inside the bridge. In addition, we only needed a few connections for a relatively long route," explains Carsten Svej.

Project Køge North Station Architecture Cobe, DISSING+WEITLING architecture, COWI, Bladt Industries Light planning Relight ©Photographer Rasmus Hjortshøj - COAST