Pipistrellum
Reclaiming the Park
Team Project
December 2024 - January 2025
Grand Challenge RCA
The Royal College of Art
Brief: The Grand Challenge 2024/25 focuses on Design Resilience, encouraging interdisciplinary teams from the RCA School of Design to create innovative solutions that help local London communities develop resilient systems. Teams will work with assigned boroughs to identify key challenges—such as climate change, social inequalities, waste, and urban sustainability—using design methodologies like co-design and data-driven strategies.
Harrow, a borough in northwest London, faces challenges in park and recreation ground safety, particularly after dark, as poor outdoor lighting systems diminish public confidence in using these spaces. Through discussions and interviews with local residents at Harrow Recreation Ground, one of the borough’s most frequented outdoor spaces, our team identified the need for a street lighting solution that enhances security while preserving the natural environment. Pipistrellum was developed to address this need, providing a sense of safety, community, and ecological responsibility.
Pipistrellum is a tailor-designed street lighting system that improves nighttime visibility without disrupting nocturnal wildlife. Emitting a warm amber glow, it enhances safety while protecting bat and other night creature ecosystems, with a bat-inspired form. Powered by solar panels, it operates sustainably, reducing energy consumption while ensuring continuous non-glare lighting.
More than just a light, Pipistrellum fosters a sense of security, particularly for women, encouraging greater park use and outdoor activity. Its integrated SOS system, supported by community participation, strengthens collective responsibility and trust. By involving residents in its implementation and monitoring, Pipistrellum transforms parks into welcoming, resilient spaces, reclaiming them for the local communities.
Harrow is one of the most diverse borough in the UK, with 63.8% of its population belonging to minority ethnic backgrounds, including significant Indian and Romanian communities. According to the census, the top languages spoken in Harrow after English are Romanian, Pashto, Gujarati, Arabic and Tamil. Harrow has a long history, with its origins dating back to the medieval period. The older parts of Harrow, such as Harrow on the Hill, retain historical buildings and street layouts that reflect its past.
Our team visited Harrow five times, exploring its diverse areas—from the historic Harrow-on-the-Hill and Harrow School in the south to the bustling town center, home to the shopping mall, green spaces, and recycling center, and up to the northern woodlands and Harrow Manor. We focused our field research on the borough’s green spaces, as parks and allotments make up 20% of Harrow’s territory and are actively maintained by the local community, playing a vital role in the area’s social and environmental well-being.
Harrow Recreation
Ground Map
Green Spaces
Activity Spaces
Circulation Paths
The Pipistrellum street lamp is thoughtfully designed to avoid disrupting the natural patterns of nocturnal animals, such as the bats that have formed colonies in Harrow Recreation Ground Park.
Bats, adapted to navigating darkness, inspired our choice of a soft amber light that aligns with their low-light environment. They symbolize awareness, perception, and protection—values mirrored in how the Pipistrellum light enhances safety after dark. Just as bats use echolocation to sense their surroundings and detect danger, the lamp reflects this alertness, while also embodying a sense of community, as bats rely on their colonies for survival.
