The main idea of ​​the project was to explore and relive the sacrifices of our brave Jordanian Military Forces on the battlefield emphasizing the human side of the martyrs, placing the memorial on the Middle East tourism map. The main objective of the lighting technique used in this project was to shed light to specific areas of the project, keeping the general dark mood of the premises, by employing narrow beam (directed) lighting to focus areas leaving other areas unlit.

Working closely with the project designer (Paradigm DH) based in Amman, several challenges arose during design and implementation such as the floor recessed display boxes. These were lit using special high density LED strips with asymmetric diffusers to orient and maximize the light output, without any dot or pixel effect.

Whereas the special flooring where bullet rims were distributed was also lit using bullet sized floor recessed lights, that also created a random pattern for visitors to follow throughout the space. Sarh Al Shaheed itself (Martyr’s Memorial in Arabic) used a special translucent concrete material that allowed light to pass through, thereby creating a challenge to provide homogeneous light. This was overcome using custom made LED panels, with 180-degree beam angles uniquely positioned allowing for an uninterruptable light pattern.

For the entrance double volume ceiling of over 7m, powerful narrow beam downlights were able to provide suitable lighting without creating light pollution and impacting the overall atmosphere of the space. The lighting design approach in the project was able to provide both sense of the space as well as understand the objective of what the memorial portrays, and its significance to or beloved country.