pipistrellum
reclaiming the park
2024|25
Team Project
Grand Challenge, Royal College of Art
Service: Lighting Design | Service Design | Community Design | Habitat Preservation | Social Security | CAD | Animation
As part of the RCA Grand Challenge 2024/25, our team partnered with the London Borough of Harrow to address safety in public parks. Through co-design workshops and interviews at Harrow Recreation Ground, we identified that inadequate lighting diminishes public confidence and limits outdoor activity and commute after dark.
Pipistrellum is a solar-powered, bat-inspired lighting system that provides non-glare, amber-hued illumination to preserve nocturnal ecosystems while maximising visibility. Designed for social impact, the system features an integrated SOS panel and community-led monitoring specifically aimed at reclaiming safe spaces for locals, women and children.
Ranked among the UK’s most diverse boroughs, with 63.8% of residents from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Harrow on the Hill serves as the borough’s historic anchor, retaining original street layouts and heritage-listed structures.
Harrow Recreation
Ground Map
Green Spaces
Activity Spaces
Circulation Paths
Ecological Preservation: Designed to maintain the natural patterns of nocturnal wildlife, specifically the bat colonies native to Harrow Recreation Ground.
Adaptive Illumination: Shines a soft amber spectrum to align with low-light environments, minimising biological disruption.
Biomimetic Safety: Inspired by the bat's use of echolocation, the street light reflects heightened environmental alertness.
Community-Centred Design: The bat colony as a symbol for collective survival, fostering a shared sense of social responsibility.
