Gardens Of Gran Plaza 2

Lead Designers Alvaro Coello De Portugal

Entry Description

The Project begins with the challenge of transforming an exterior Parking lot, into an attractive and leisure driven green area.
Located beside the Gran Plaza 2 Shopping Mall, the transformed area would connect the inner gardens with the outside, featuring walk paths, restaurant terraces, playgrounds including a pirate ship, a digital cinema façade, climbing structures, an extensive fountain for kids to play in the summer days, an exquisite vegetation layout.. all, smoothly designed and integrated with one another, not only by the architecture and the landscape, but also through lighting becoming part of the experience.
The lighting comes to play a key role to connect inside and outside of the building,plus enhance the features of each of the different elements, while recreating an atmosphere of magical harmony.
Sometimes fixed warm light for a calm enchanted walk, others digital to make external, the happenings inside the building, or colored and digital to make the surroundings of the pirate ship, to move like a turquoise ocean, or shift the game to a burning lava. The use of color, very carefully chosen where to be used, and programming made to be smooth, slow, and timeless. The Lighting is designed, aiming for a very high visual comfort, light pollution control, actively helps the public with the wayfinding as well as the recognition of the architecture and different uses.

Sustainability Approach

All the fixtures aiming, and light intensity, was carefully designed to avoid projecting light to the skies. The programming of the digital features was tailor-made for each of the structures, matching environmental needs and their architectural concepts. Also in the technical lighting, high efficiency lm/W fixtures, plus a complete control of the general lighting was implemented to match the best environmental certifications, plus as an emergency lighting was included in the project, being this one connected to an electrical batteries circuit.
All lighting fixtures were carefully chosen and integrated into the architecture and vegetation to be as much as possible invisible to the eye, driving the light to where was needed, and making sure that being day or night, the public could fully enjoy the experience.