Railway Station Rankweil

The Austrian region of Vorderland-Feldkirch at the place where four national frontiers converge (Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland) offers a versatile mix of ruritanian idyll and concentrated economic power. Rankweil is the second largest community in this region. The railway station there is one of the most significant transport nodes in the area. Since the infrastructure was showing signs of age, the railway station has been undergoing a comprehensive facelift since 2014. This modernisation work encompassed more than simply the station building or the platforms. A fully accessible railway underpass that shines out in a bright and aesthetically appealing way is one of the highlights of the renovation. The specially manufactured ceiling made of highly reflective aluminium panels and highly efficient lighting installations flood the aisles with bright light and give them a special character.

Dingy and oppressive: those are the terms most frequently associated with railway underpasses. Not however in Rankweil. A lighting installation comprising lines of light in which hundreds of small reflectors are integrated deliver friendly, glare-free and bright light at any time of the day or night, regardless of the prevailing weather. The TANGENTA^®-Y 100 surface-mounted luminaires with glass covers, also developed for industrial plans, are superbly protected from damp and other environmental influences such as insects thanks to protection class IP 54. The shell-shaped SHELLY reflectors installed here deliver visually very appealing lighting thanks to their their special shape and to two different angle settings. The horizontally mounted reflectors imbue the aisles with uniform, flat lighting. In contrast, the vertically arranged SHELLYs deliver direct, focused light. These beam the light up onto the highly reflective aluminium ceiling and this in turn directs glare-free light onto the walkways. The result of this complete arrangement for the traveller is a pleasing lighting experience that can be adjusted across an infinitely variable range with Tunable White into various colour temperatures.

Made-to-measure aluminium panels with a highly reflective surface, ideal for lighting purposes, enclose the railway underpass in the manner of an open ceiling. Enhanced in 3D fluid geometry, the ceiling appears to be a pulsating, moving water surface in which the light of the SHELLYs is refracted. When maintenance work is required, to keep access to the suspended ceiling as simple as possible, the aluminium panels can be opened and closed from ground level by just one person using just a rod, without the need for a ladder.