Mowbray Park

International Lighting Engineer's Top Lighting Award Winning Public Space

Mowbray Park is one of founder Heath Williamson's most loved examples of what lighting can do for a community. When Brisbane was announced as host of the 2032 Olympics, the mayor's office came to Heath with a simple brief: activate the park after dark. At the time, it was a place locals jogged past and avoided once the sun went down. The council expected street light upgrades and a few floodlights. Heath came back with something else entirely, thousands of firefly strobe lights and miles of warm white fairy lights woven through the branches of century old Moreton Bay figs lining the Brisbane River.

The result is a living chandelier of golden, moving light suspended above the city's most iconic waterway. What was once Brisbane's most avoided park after dark is now one of its most sought after evening destinations. Families dine at riverside tables beneath millions of gently shifting LEDs, with the Story Bridge glittering in the reflection below. Crime rates dropped. Antisocial behaviour decreased. Residents reclaimed the space.