Sassenheim: comfortable light without glare

The street in Sassenheim

Sassenheim, in the municipality of Teylingen, has the residential streets typical of a Dutch village: cars, cyclists and pedestrians share the same space. The columns are low, at 4 to 6 metres, the house fronts close to the road. A luminaire at 4 metres hangs almost in a cyclist's line of sight: glare is a real risk.

When the lighting was renewed, the choice fell on a street luminaire with a clean, simple housing: no decorative canopy or protruding lens, just a flat light window that directs the light downwards and along the road. Lichtplein was not involved in this project. We describe it because the design choices behind it apply directly to luminaires from our range.

Two light sources, one housing

The luminaire works with two independent light sources. Each source has its own optic, chosen from several light distributions, and its own lumen output. Together they deliver roughly 1,500 to 15,000 lumens, depending on the setting. The same housing therefore suits a footway with one source at low output as well as a through road with two sources at full output.

One luminaire type for the whole neighbourhood, then, with its own setting on every column.

Why the shape limits glare

Glare on the street comes from light reaching the eye at a shallow angle. EN 13201 limits it with intensity classes (G classes) for the luminous intensity at 70, 80 and 90 degrees. A flat optic mounted horizontally meets the stricter classes almost by itself: no light above the horizon, little light towards the road user.

A luminaire without a domed cover or translucent side walls emits only through its light window. With a warm colour temperature of 2700 or 3000 K you see the road, not the lamp.

How you achieve the same with VIA

The street luminaires of VIA follow the same principle: a flat housing, a Type II or Type III optic and an output you set per luminaire. The series runs from 25 to 100 W; on the dip switch versions you select the output on site. That gives roughly 1,500 to 15,000 lumens depending on the version, with an efficacy of up to 160 lm/W: the same range as in Sassenheim.

• Footway or narrow residential street: 25 W, 1,500 lm, Type II optic, mounting height 4 metres.
• Through road in a neighbourhood: 50 to 100 W, Type III optic, mounting height 6 metres.
• All versions: IP66, 10 kV surge protection, tilting on a 60 mm spigot, 5 year guarantee.

Set the tilt angle to 0 degrees: every degree upwards raises the luminous intensity in the glare zone and the light entering bedrooms. For dimming back after midnight, choose the version with DALI-2 and D4i or a driver with AstroDIM.

Lighting level and columns

Residential streets are usually assigned class P3 or P4 from EN 13201: an average of 7.5 or 5 lux with a minimum of 1.5 or 1 lux. At 4 metres, 25 to 40 W per lighting point is often enough for P4, depending on column spacing; a lighting calculation confirms the uniformity in advance. For the columns, the conical steel columns of TURRIS in 4 and 6 metres fit, with a NEXUS cut-out (column connection box) in the door opening.

Frequently asked questions