Optelma worked with London-based lighting design consultancy Nulty, to create a scheme for Keflavik International Airport, which celebrates the Icelandic identity by reimagining the Northern Lights.

Optelma supplied lighting to the food and beverage zones, and the circulation areas across the terminal. Within the airport’s arrivals and departures lounges, an interactive installation of LEDs, supplied by Lumenpulse, projects a sequence of colours onto the ceiling. This reacts to live weather data, so that the light sequence reflects how the aurora borealis itself appears.

This theme is carried through to the food and beverage courts, where inverted triangular trusses, created by Optelma’s Postform profile, incorporate linear runs fitted with colour-change pixel tape. Using the latest pixel tape technology, each LED can be controlled individually by a state-of-the-art control system, more often used in stage performances. The lighting replicates the Northern Lights, echoing the main installation and transforming the space to create a dynamic and engaging experience for travellers.

Also in the food and beverage zones, indirect warm white linear light is discreetly located in the structural framework of Optelma’s Firo profile This creates a soft wash onto adjacent architectural details and coffers, adding further visual interest to the scene. In both areas, custom brackets were designed and manufactured by Optelma to fit onto the tubular truss, to allow for an almost invisible installation. 

CLIENT: Keflavik International Airport
ARCHITECTURE: Nordic Architecture
LIGHTING DESIGN: Nulty
IMAGES: © OZZO Photography