Acrylic meets a century-old infrastructure: lighting up a tunnel with "colors"

When it comes to large - scale infrastructure projects, what often comes to mind are cold reinforced concrete, massive steel structures, and dusty asphalt roads. However, in Melbourne, the West Gate Tunnel, one of the largest infrastructure projects in its history, has subverted our imagination of engineering with an unexpected material.---------This material is acrylic.

Here, acrylic is no longer just an ordinary material for shop windows, signboards, or bathtubs; it transforms into a color palette of light and a narrator of space, presenting a 60,000-year-long river of history in a colorful manner before every driver's eyes.

The design inspiration for the Ximen Tunnel comes from the land’s long history of indigenous peoples. The designers transformed this history into sculptural images of “fishing nets” and “swimming fish.” The key to bringing this visual narrative to life is acrylic. On the two side ramps that cross the Maribion River, one of them features a brightly colored “eel” ramp adorned with a series of high-saturation acrylic panels. These panels aren’t mere decorations; rather, they function like precise prisms, capturing and reflecting the light as it changes over time.

What requirements does such a project place on acrylic? The Ximen Tunnel shows us the infinite possibilities of acrylic materials in large-scale infrastructure. To support the implementation of such a design, the material itself must possess three core capabilities:

• optical performance, which can accurately present the colors and light transmission effects desired by the designer;
• outdoor weather resistance, which can maintain stable color and prevent yellowing under years of sun and rain;
• the ability to customize large-sized plates to meet the installation needs of special-shaped structures and super-large panels.

When engineers build a "Rainbow Road" with acrylic, what's needed behind the scenes is a trustworthy material partner. This exactly coincides with the core strengths of JAFFA DESIGN PLASTIC. JAFFA Acrylic has long been committed to providing high - quality material solutions for various high - end buildings, transportation facilities, and public art projects.