Pont Simone-Veil, Bordeaux (FRA)

Rem Koolhaas, founder and partner of the Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), and his team realized an unconventional approach in Bordeaux to connect the two banks of the Garonne in the south of the metropolis: A bridge that creates additional, multifunctional urban space instead of iconic architecture. Opened in July 2024, the Simone-Veil Bridge is a 44-metre-wide public square that connects the suburb of Bègles with Floriac.

The lack of an expressive, vertically aligned bridge structure makes the new bridge somewhat unusual to look at. This also led to the unusual briefing for the lighting concept for the roadway lighting: High poles were to be dispensed with altogether. Apart from relatively low columns for lighting the pedestrian and cyclist areas, nothing was to obstruct the view of the panorama. The Lyon-based lighting design office Les Èclaireurs was commissioned with the detailing and implementation planning of the lighting, which in turn brought ewo into play: Back in 2014, the company was able to find a solution for a similarly challenging lighting situation on the Pont Schuman in Lyon.

In a multi-stage sampling process, ewo's customized prototype was able to assert itself, above all with its excellent quality of light: The lead in criteria such as uniformity, glare-free and CoA (Color over Angle) was unmistakable. The manufacturer developed the prototype in a very short time and delivered the large number of 490 luminaires to the construction site. The customized RAZER luminaire is now part of ewo's standard range.

The linear lighting system is designed for installation at a height of 0.4 to 1 m, offers high visual comfort for road users and at the same time protects the night sky, as it does not emit any light above the vertical, in line with the Dark Sky approach. Thanks to its slim and linear design, RAZER can be optimally integrated into structures along roads and bridges. It is also ideal for areas where the climate is harsh, for example with strong winds—or whenever unobtrusive installation of the lighting is required.

"The demands on the lighting technicians in this project were enormous," recalls Hannes Wohlgemuth, CEO of ewo, "but thanks to our experience and the expertise of our optics development department in Munich, we were able to develop a completely new special optic within the extremely demanding time frame, which also met the local normative requirements for roadway lighting."