Lighting in Design August-September 2016

Photograph courtesy Vivid Architects.

light fittings, up to 3 m in length, supply much of the light, but attractive circular pendants 2.5 m in diameter and designed by Peter Bruyns, which we manufactured, are a striking feature throughout the mall and are used in the restaurant ‘promenade’ to great effect to create a warm, friendly environment where people can enjoy a meal or an evening drink”. The skylights, though very effective during day- light hours, created something of an illumination challenge at night. “During the day, says Botha, “they provide light onto the lower levels of the centre, but for night time illumination to the floor we had to install downlighters just beneath the openings. In order to create even illumination and avoid dark patches on the centre floors, we spent a consider- able amount of time ensuring there was a balance of direct and angled light; it looks good now though.” In addition to the downlights and recessed linear LEDs, about 7.5 km of strip LED cove lighting was installed in the centre and coloured LED lighting at the entrance to the mall from each parking level matches the coloured fluorescent within the park- ing area, clearly guiding visitors and making the parking garages simpler to negotiate. The outer and inner edges of the cantilever on the external façade of the building are illuminated by LED strips, encased in ‘neon LED flex’ for maximum flexibility. The orange-coloured accent cladding on the inside of the cantilever contrasts with the silver outer edge and, with the light from inside the centre, creates an exceptionally appeal- ing night time lighting scheme, which is enhanced by the custom made bollards and orange beacons on a number of the pole lights. While DALI has been installed throughout the centre for future management of light, at this stage only the restaurants walkway is linked to the con- trol system to provide scheduled prefixed scenes. Dimming starts at 17h00 and by 19h00 the scene is

set for a suitable ambience. Since the restaurants all have different lighting designs – with fittings ranging from chandeliers to downlights – each restaurant is able set its own schedule. The final management setting will take all this information into account and will also mark separate scenes for summer and winter. ‘It was a great project to work on,” says Botha. “The restaurant walkway of the centre is particularly appealing and will, I’m sure, become a favourite meeting place for people who live in the area.

Photographs courtesy Mall of the South unless otherwise stated.

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LiD AUG/SEP 2016