Stationsweg, Drachten: robust lighting in the town centre

A town-centre street with many users

The Stationsweg runs through the heart of Drachten. As in most town-centre streets, everything comes together here: shops and hospitality, residents above the premises, cyclists, pedestrians and early-morning deliveries. The lighting has to serve all of them without dominating the streetscape.

The choice fell on a clean, timeless street luminaire mounted on a column. Three requirements come first in a street like this: a robust housing, low energy consumption and as little glare as possible for shoppers and residents.

Robust in practice

In a town-centre street, robust means more than a sturdy canopy. The luminaire sits for years in rain, road salt and exhaust fumes, and takes the occasional knock during events or deliveries. In concrete terms that comes down to:

• IP66: dust-tight and protected against water jets, no condensation in the optic.
• IK08 or higher: resistant to knocks from tail lifts, scaffolding and balls.
• 10 kV surge protection: a thunderstorm or a switching spike on the grid does not cost you a driver.
• Replaceable driver and LED module: maintenance from the access platform, without dismantling the column.

Little glare, enough light

A shopping street generally falls within the P classes of EN 13201, in the order of 7.5 to 15 lux average horizontal, depending on footfall and the sense of safety. The road authority sets the class. That level is generally achievable with 25 to 50 W of LED per light point at a mounting height of 4 to 6 metres, depending on column spacing and optic.

You limit glare with a flat, shielded lens and a tilt angle of 0 degrees, so that no light escapes above the horizon. A warm white colour temperature of 2700 or 3000 K looks calmer than 4000 K and suits facades and terraces better.

Low consumption all night long

Compared with high-pressure sodium or compact fluorescent, LED often saves half or more in streets like this, depending on the existing installation. A dimming profile that drops to 50 percent late at night saves a substantial further share of the annual consumption, without the street feeling dark. A driver with DALI-2 or an astronomical dimming clock handles that without extra cabling.

How the VIA series fits this brief

This project was not carried out by Lichtplein, but anyone lighting a similar town-centre street will find the same principles in the VIA series: street luminaires from 25 to 100 W in IP66, with 10 kV surge protection, tiltable on a 60 mm spigot and up to 160 lm/W. You choose the driver: DALI-2 with D4i for municipal asset management, or adjustable output via dip switch for a straightforward installation.

Matching columns come from the TURRIS series: conical steel lighting columns of 4 and 6 metres, hot-dip galvanised or powder-coated in RAL 9005. The NEXUS column cut-out fits in the door opening and provides the fuse for each column.

Planning and delivery

Lichtplein delivers luminaires from European stock within 5 working days, steel columns in 3 to 5 weeks. For a street with several columns, Lichtplein prepares a lighting calculation for 350 euros excl. VAT, so that column spacing and wattage are fixed before you order. Business customers only.

Frequently asked questions