Lighting the ‘gateway’ to Bunbury City

The Koombana Bay foreshore has been transformed and brought to life by a sophisticated and functional lighting scheme.

Western Australia’s City of Bunbury engaged landscape design firm Cardno and ETC lighting consultants to work on the project, which involved the redevelopment of an existing beach-front precinct to include a boardwalk promenade, beach-side amphitheatre, and a new iconic bridge linking the precinct to the Bunbury CBD. The area also features a playground, provisions for night markets, a café and parking.

For Perth-based ETC lighting designers, the waterfront redevelopment presented a unique opportunity to reinforce the significance of this iconic precinct while also promoting it as a night-time destination both for tourists and the local community to enjoy. “The design embraces the city’s place activation strategies for the area, with the goal of evolving the use of the foreshore as well as capitalising on the unique asset and natural beauty that the Koombana Bay waterfront offers day and night,” said ETC Director Kurt McRae.

“The lighting features a customised illumination system for the new footbridge and lighting poles on the bespoke boardwalk to the promenade. LED luminaires were specifically selected for their aesthetic form, performance and function in order to integrate with the bespoke designs and lighting effects choreographed across the precinct,” McRae explained.

Services also included events power, infrastructure for WiFi and CCTV, general and decorative lighting, provisions for performances and events at the amphitheatre and market areas, and photovoltaic power integrated into the shade shelters.

ETC Director Sebastian Corvaia explained that one of the key tourist attractions in Bunbury is the resident dolphin population. “Boat tours are run daily in the bay and surrounds for exploring the dolphins in their natural habitat. Minimising spill light to the beach and bay was a key design consideration, which was addressed by the type and placement of lighting poles,” he said. Luminaires with side-throw [S70] optics were used along the beach promenade and aimed away from the beach. This resulted in not only excellent illumination of the promenade but also ‘borrowed light’ for the surrounding amenities, playgrounds and areas.

“The lighting was carefully considered in terms of type, optics, placement, aesthetics, scale and colour in order to reflect the themes and technical requirements,” Corvaia noted. A suite of three WE-EF luminaires were used to achieve this, with the criteria being area lighting, accent lighting and task lighting. The design includes several variations of WE-EF’s VFL540 range of street and area luminaires. “The shape of the VFL was selected to match the geometric form of the custom designed promenade lighting pole,” said WE-EF sales partner for this project, H.I. Lighting WA.

The contemporary design aesthetic was a major factor in WE-EF luminaires being specified for this project, according to ETC. “Performance, reliability, value for money and back-up support – critical to maintenance minimization for the local government, which will maintain the installations – were other reasons why the WE-EF product was selected,” McRae explained. “Variable optics and outputs within each product suite permit optimisation of design and aesthetic continuity,” he said, adding that the DALI-dimmable function allowed for scene setting and choreography of the various themes.

Drawing inspiration from the Koombana Bay’s working port, and its historical, cultural and natural features, the end result is a truly unique experience, integrating the aesthetic and functional requirements into an overall considered solution. “The community response has been overwhelming, embracing the precinct, with its new transformation into a unique location in Bunbury, and in the State’s south-west region,” Corvaia added. “The benefits to the community and visitors alike can be seen from the increased patronage and extended usage.”

Photography: Jackie Chan