Walled City Lighting Project, Derry ~ Londonderry - Derry City Council

____________________________________________________________________
1.0 Introduction
The historic Walled City of Derry-Londonderry has been designated as one of five
Signature Tourism Destinations by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The City‟s
status as a Signature Tourism Destination is founded upon its historic 17 th Century
City Walls, rich built heritage as well as its cultural heritage and offering.
The City has been designated as the inaugural UK City of Culture for 2013 which will
see a celebration of its culture to local and international audiences through the
delivery of a high profile cultural programme. A dedicated company has been set up
to manage and deliver the UK City of Culture 2013 programme.
In recent years, the City has witnessed significant public sector investment in a
number of high profile tourism infrastructure projects that are designed to enhance
the product offering and improve the overall visitor experience. Projects have
included; a Built Heritage Programme to target investment towards the restoration of
six key historic buildings; a visitor orientation and interpretation programme;
refurbishment of the award winning Tower Museum and capital support and fit out of
key community tourism attractions.
There have also been many completed and ongoing complimentary physical
regeneration projects including £8m public realm scheme in Waterloo Place/Guildhall
Square, the Walled City Townscape Heritage Initiative and the £13.5m foot/cycle
bridge across the River Foyle linking Ebrington Barracks regeneration site with the
City Centre.
The Walled City Lighting Strategy has been developed by Derry City Council, and a
number of partners including Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Ilex and the Northern
Ireland Environment Agency (Built Heritage Division). Council have previously
commissioned a Lighting Strategy document that made the case for a major lighting
project in the City as well as assisting in identifying the buildings/features to be lit.
This document has assisted NITB in securing a dedicated budget for the capital
implementation of the project - which will be managed and delivered by Derry City
Council.
The Walled City Lighting Strategy aims to build upon the previous and ongoing
tourism infrastructure and physical regeneration projects through the implementation
of an innovative and creative lighting project that will illuminate 6 key historic
buildings (see below for details), the surface and selected elevations of the Historic
City Walls, as well as the Craigavon Bridge.
The objective of the lighting strategy is to illuminate and visually enhance key
elements of the City‟s built heritage product in the hours of darkness, as well as
contributing to extending visitor dwell time to the City throughout the year. In order to
achieve this, Council and its partners envisage a high quality design lighting solution
that is commensurate with a Signature Tourism Destination seeking to achieve
international stand out within the tourism marketplace. Quality of design will
therefore be a key consideration that forms part of the overall determination of this
tender.
5