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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.
Photograph courtesy
Vivid Architects.
Photographs courtesy
Mall of the South unless
otherwise stated.
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LiD
AUG/SEP 2016