If you ever go to Norway to see the Northern lights, you will undoubtedly come across the country’s latest landmark. The Tana suspension bridge is located in Tana bru in the county of Finnmark, one of the world’s most remotely inhabited regions. It’s the only bridge over the lowest 100km of the Tana River, and guarantees safe passage even during the frigid winters when nearby ports are frozen over. The bridge is 260m long with a main span measuring 234m.
The vision was to achieve a lighting design that would transform the bridge into an internationally recognised landmark that the entire nation could be proud of. The lighting display, visible from afar, is a beacon that reflects the natural beauty of Finnmark’s extended sunrises and sunsets, as well as the stunning wonder of the Northern Lights – especially during the long winter nights.
To achieve this, GVA Lighting provided a range of outdoor lighting fixtures capable of withstanding the region’s harsh weather conditions. The lighting design is brought to life by Pharos Architectural Controls and their award-winning LPC (Lighting Playback Controller).
The backbone of the project is a Pharos LPC 4 which provides up to 2,048 channels of eDMX, including 1,024 channels of local DMX. The scheme consists of two DMX outputs on the LPC 4 and two DMX outputs from an Artistic Licence artLynx Duo, powered and connected by a Pharos PoE Switch.
The LPC’s compact form factor and minimal power requirements make it suitable for installation anywhere – including in weatherproof enclosures, perfect for the arctic conditions on the bridge throughout most of the year. Due to the extreme remoteness of the location, the LPC 4 is connected to Pharos Cloud, making programming more accessible.
Lars Grieg Hermansen, Programmer on behalf of ZENISK, commented, “I have used Pharos controls on many projects before and feel confident that it’s one of the best and most stable systems for projects like this. For this project, having the LPC connected to Pharos Cloud together with a good webcam at the location has been a great combination for me during the programming, but also for the end-users who are given control panel access through Pharos Cloud.”
Since completion, the project has received various awards, including a 2021 LIT Lighting Design Award in the Exterior Architectural Illumination category.
Project Credits:
Lighting Design – ZENISKLighting Products – GVA Lighting
Controls Partner – Stockholm Lighting
Fixtures Partner – Rebel Lighting
Client – Statens Vegvesen
Lighting Control – Pharos Architectural Controls
Photography – Frank M. Ingilæ (Photos courtesy of ZENISK)
