The Zwingerpark, a listed garden monument from the 19th century, is located in the heart of the city of Offenburg. Between the Mühlbach and the surrounding historic city wall, which is up to nine meters high, it forms the most impressive section of the green belt around the old town.

The challenge was to find a balanced solution that met the requirements in terms of environmental impact, sustainability, design appropriate to the urban space and safety aspects.

helleckes landschaftsarchitektur was responsible for the extensive renovation work to create an identity-forming public space. An appropriate evening atmosphere was created in close cooperation.

Zwingerpark Offenburg ° lighting design

Client: Stadt Offenburg
Landscape architecture: Helleckes Landschaftsarchitekten
Photography: Sebastian Schels, Klaus Storch
winner of  the German Lighting Design Award

A decisive component for minimizing the environmental impact was the time-based differentiation of the lighting. the city was open to breaking new ground in this respect and enabling a control system with which the luminaires can be individually dimmed and grouped into scenes. In the early evening hours, the focus is still on people and the urban space. In the darker months of the year, the city wall also becomes a focal point. During transitional phases at night, however, only the walkway is illuminated and dimmed to a minimum.

Equally important for environmental protection, the light colour was considered in detail and, also according to samples, 2200K was selected as standard and 2700K in accent areas. At the entrance areas and bridges, transitions between the light colours to the adjacent, partially neutral lighting were created.

A defining element of the landscape design is the row of lime trees along the 500m long main path by the Mühlbach stream. This was recreated along the historical model, around individual witness trees from the original planting. The lighting fixtures themselves were designed to blend in decently, with high poles between the tree grids to minimize glare. From there, narrow-beam spotlights cast discrete and precise beams of light onto the path, which are interlinked with soft contrast and thus reflect the ductus of the row of trees.

The lighting concept also includes the significant old linden trees, playing with the shadows to make the leaves visible on the ground. Spotlights with tree belts are attached to the trunk in close coordination with the city's tree care department and, as an exception, are deliberately aimed at the ground through individual branches at the right distance for a shadow image.

The path at the back in front of the city wall remains unlit, with the exception of individual seating niches and an island of light by the pond. Small lighting accents with narrow-beam spotlights were also used for statues, monuments and the fountain. These are important in order to perceive the depth of the space.

The precise but soft and discreet illumination of the city wall that forms the space is also an important element in the winter months in order to increase the recognizability of the surroundings and thus the sense of security.