The Town Square is in the middle of town and utilised daily, all year. It is therefore important that one find such an open space to be safe, and a place where one has an overview after nightfall. The goal of the lighting plan for the Town Square was to create a safe and inviting framework that invites one to participate in activities there, and to be there (including in the evening), while at the same time feeling a bit magical.

We lit up the walking zone up to the building façades, so that there would be a continuous framework of light around the surface of the Town Square. Simple, modern luminaries, placed in the furnishings zone, make this possible. We placed lights in the trees from below to create a sense of spaciousness. In the dark, these come across as sculptural elements.

We highlighted the new urban floor, which has a pattern inspired by local Trøndersk textile patterning tradition, in a discrete manner with the help of projectors placed on the roofs of two of the building at the Town Square. The projectors cover parts of the surface of the Town

Square and the light creates an illusion that refers to the night sky. The projectors provide a varied light pattern throughout the year, as well as in connection with special occasions like Christmas and New Year. Those who host arrangements at the Town Square are also able to choose between two different light settings, if they find the standard setting to be unsuitable for their arrangements.

The natural midpoint of the Town Square is the compass rose and the statue of Olav Tryggvason. With the help of several, small fiber light-points, we have also made the compass rose easily visible in the dark. These create a sparkling effect around the pillar, in addition to framing the most central elements of the place. Small rays of light with coloured filters from two projectors illuminate the statue. Luminaries embedded in the plinth illuminate the pillar. In addition, the fountain in the plinth gives light, which makes the water columns shine and flash in different colours in the dark. In this way, the statue of the town’s founder has received a central place in town after nightfall as well.

The lighting in the roof of the Town Square stage consists of 3700 LED (light-emitting diodes), which we have programmed so that the light in the roof changes its character with the seasons. Those who host arrangements in the Town Square are also able to choose between various colours in the roof of the stage, ones suitable for various arrangements, such as Sami National Day (for example), gay pride parades, or campaigns of the Pink Ribbon movement, etc.

(Photographer: Glen Musk)