MSF was appointed by ESH Construction to design and install the architectural lighting package for Riverside Park. This has been one of our largest and most complex architectural lighting schemes to date, incorporating a wide variety of lighting techniques to enhance the park’s unique design features.
The Riverside Park project is part of the ambitious Roverside Sunderland regeneration shceme, and has transformed 13.7 hectares of parkland and 5.3 hectares of riverfront into vibrant green spaces reconnecting the city with the River Wear, offering spaces for leisure, biodiversity, and community wellbeing.
Corten Steel Rib Walls, End Posts
& Planters
The landscape design incorporates striking Corten steel rib walls, spanning roughly 40 metres, alongside eight large Corten steel planters.
The weathered, orange-brown patina of the steel provides a contemporary industrial contrast to the natural greenery and honours the area's heavy industrial and shipbuilding heritage.
Rib Walls
To enhance the rib walls, we installed 102 uplighters, at regular intervals along the walls, to project light upwards and produce a shadow effect. To maximise the effect, we worked with NE Fabrications and SLDS to design some bespoke Corten steel housing for the uplighters allowing them to sit flush to the ground while protecting against water ingress.
End Posts
At the ends of the rib walls, we designed and manufactured posts which housed bespoke LED’s. These were cast and mounted within the walls, allowing light to project through the perspex creating dynamic shapes and colours.
Planters
Similarly, we installed 14 recessed luminaires on the eight Corten Steel Planters which projected a solid beam of light throughout the walled garden. These also required bespoke housings to ensure a full IP rating, and were finished in the same Corten Steel material to integrate seamlessly into the planters.
Paddlestone Walls, Pergolas
& Entrance Sign
Paddlestone Walls
Complementing the rusted steel elements of the park were nine intricate paddlestone walls featuring custom stone dressing, masonry cladding, and elegant coping stones. To further enhance the aesthetic, we installed 70 inground uplighters which project onto the paddlestones, producing light of varying colour.
Pergolas
We worked closely with the manufacturers of the timber and metal Pergolas to ensure the flexible linear LED lighting strips could be installed within. Using Vexica Flexi-Line-S luminaires, the LED beams provide a constant amount of lighting onto the area beneath.
Illuminated ‘Riverside Sunderland’ Sign
We also installed a full colour illuminated ‘RIVERSIDE SUNDERLAND’ sign in the on the paddlestone wall at the entrance to the park. We worked closely with our supply chain and ESH to ensure conduits and cables were cast into the wall during construction, allowing the sign to be surface-mounted cleanly against the finished face.
Control System
All park lighting is centrally controlled using a Pharos LPC1 controller, a programmable colour changing system which will enable the park to be illuminated in different colours for special occasions such as Christmas, Diwali and Chinese New Year.
Luminaires
Installed
Studio Due TERRA-L5 RGBW — inground uplighter
MaxiLED MaxiDEPTH 102 DMX RGBW — inground uplighter
Tagra TP24-RGBW-60 — LED strip light
Vexica Flexi-Line-S RGBW 3000K — flexible linear luminaire
BEGA 33058 — recessed wall luminaire
LED Linear VarioLED White HYDRA HD10 — rigid linear luminaire
