CHENNAI: The commuters and general public near the Chennai Egmore railway station — one of the prominent landmarks of the city - were in for a surprise last week as the heritage building was lit up with a dynamic range of themes. With funds from Southern Railways, Philips India installed a new lighting system on the facade of the station.
“In north India, government bodies are already investing in colour-changing facades and interactive walls in government buildings. In New Delhi, the Parliament and Raj Bhavan have been lit in a similar way. However, Chennai did not do much on this front despite boasting a lot of heritage buildings,” said Kunal Chowdhari, who carried out the project. He said this is the first railway station in Tamil Nadu to be lit up this way. “These lights can be scheduled based on time and occasion. Southern Railway will decide on the colour of lights every day,” he said.
According to Railway officials, like Ripon building, Egmore station too will be illuminated with special colours on particular days. For example, tricolour on Independence Day and Republic Day, red colour on World AIDS Day and so on.
The Egmore Railway station is 111 years old. It was built at a cost of `17 lakh in 1908. “It was one of the early instances of usage of concrete in Madras. The structure also was the first to incorporate Dravidian motifs within the Indo-Saracenic genre. Its pyramidal and truncated domes were considered to be architectural masterpieces,” said Anuj Rao, a historian. The lighting has been provided in a move to boost tourism. The railway station already witnesses an average patronage of 3,50,000 commuters per day.
Facade lighting, which is becoming the trend, helps turn a building into an eye-catcher when viewed from afar. It accentuates the architecture and highlights the building.
According to sources, similar projects will soon be taken up at the Tiruchy railway station and Chennai international airport.