Coordinated lighting for the banks of the Seine

In 2004, iGuzzini won the tender issued by the Autonomous Port of Paris for lighting various stretches of the banks of the river Seine. These are areas that are open to both pedestrians and vehicular traffic and frequented by a large and varied mixture of people with wide-ranging interests. The aim of the project was to characterise these spaces with a clear, visual illuminated identity, which is traditionally true of Paris and the river Seine.

The customer’s most important requirement was modularity: i.e. the chance to use a system that would permit various installation solutions that are also aesthetically homogeneous. iGuzzini proposed pole-mounted illumination, initially with floodlights using metal halide lamps, which then became LED lamps from 2012 onwards. The project has also been approved by the Architects of the Buildings of France (ABF). The MaxiWoody floodlights create diffuse, homogeneous lighting that ensures standard illumination levels as well as particularly effective accent lighting. Two types of optic have been used: a spot optic for the accent lighting and a street optic for obtaining uniform general lighting.

Other specifications were that the luminaires had to guarantee very low consumption and be easy to maintain. This ambitious project was the first time ever that LED luminaires had been installed in Paris and was influential in pushing for the city’s entire street lighting system to be converted to LEDs, which began in 2013 after the lanes on the left bank of the Seine were closed.

The first area to be lit was the river bank near the François Mitterrand library, a dynamic district that is developing rapidly. But now, iGuzzini floodlights have been installed on all the following quays: the Port de Javel - not far from the Eiffel Tower, the Quai d’Austerlitz and the Port de la Conférence, the centre of river cruise tourism that is near the Grand Palais and the jetty the Bateaux Mouches stop at.