hirvepark

tallinn

Estonia

Hirvepark is one of the 11 Bastion Parks situated around the Tallinn Old Town. All parks are under heritage protection. The design of Hirvepark, which today has an area of 3.6 ha, began in 1865. It has been under nature protection since 1959.

More on Hirvepark

The attractions of Hirvepark include bastion walls, sculptures, and a limestone staircase descending from Falk Road, with 102 different tree species growing in the park. The community of alien tree species in Hirvepark is remarkable. The Bastion Zone as a whole is a cultural monument as part of the fortifications of the downtown – (city wall, towers, gate structures, earthworks, moat, 13th-18th centuries).

The aim of the city is to increase the spatial coherence of the parks in the Bastion Zone so that the parks form a conveniently connected, safe and interesting walking route around the Old Town. Lighting is a tool to support this goal.

Pilot site goal

The piloting goals are highlighting the park’s historical heritage, raising the feeling of safety and increasing the usability of the park in dark hours. The overall goal of piloting in Tallinn site is to create an attractive, inviting urban green space with cultural heritage.

The experience of the site during dark time would be enhanced by illuminating not only the sidewalks but also the surroundings, the historical objects, while keeping the light pollution at minimal level. The goal is to create a permanent installation of subtle park lighting, which is nature-friendly and creates nightsky friendly park, through studying and testing prototypes.

The influence of the pilot trial is expected to be the increased awareness of the public about the cultural heritage site values and the delicate heritage preservation.

Piloting themes and goal will be based on adaptive lighting control system, which among other things considers bats, nature, people’s movements, and weather. The subtle lighting will contribute to the minimising the light pollution and to the increase of energy efficiency.