This new London square, the largest in 150 years, links the arrival area at North Greenwich tube station to the O2, the newly opened entertainment centre within the former Millennium Dome. It also acts as a gateway to the developing commercial and residential quarters of the Greenwich Peninsula.

Speirs + Major had already developed a sustainable lighting strategy for the wider area. The lighting design was not only a response to the architectural and landscape designs, but rooted in a broader understanding of the client’s long-term requirements for the site.

The aim was to provide a safe level of lighting for a range of activities without cluttering the space. Through the simple lighting of trees, benches and other landscape features the square is calm and comfortable during normal use after dark. The main landmark is a 45-metre tall, stainless steel sculpture, the Peninsula Spire, which acts as a focal point at night. The spire is dramatically uplit with a spotlit finial that can be seen from afar.

The street lighting around the site has a steel blue light to further delineate the unique nature of the square, calming the surroundings and ensuring a heightened experience of the feature lighting systems.

The general lighting is supplemented by a series of programmed lighting scenes that can be used when needed for the events associated with the life of the O2 and the local community. On these occasions the square becomes a highly colourful, kinetic environment in which ripples of moving light are choreographed to operate in harmony with the various water features and the media wall.