Forum Schwanthalerhöhe with Helvar Imagine
Munich, GermanyToday, shopping malls are not just places to run errands. We enjoy leisurely strolling from store to store, window shopping, grabbing a coffee with friends, and spending our free time in spaces with a pleasant ambience. That’s where modern lighting comes into play…
Well designed lighting is essential for creating an inviting, comfortable atmosphere which encourages people to stay, shop and relax. At Forum Schwanthalerhöhe in Munich, Germany, our Partner Lichtmanufaktur Berlin GmbH worked closely with lighting designer INLUX LICHTPLANUNG to create the perfect lighting control system – one which improves sustainability, maximises employee and visitor wellbeing and provides the ideal level of light throughout the mall, from morning till night.
Since shopping malls are typically for long hours every day of the week, it’s easy for lighting costs to quickly creep up if left unmanaged. With a DALI lighting control system, energy usage can be monitored and minimised, supporting sustainability and reducing energy costs.
With Helvar’s intelligent lighting solution Imagine, lighting levels can be automatically adjusted based on the time of day, or levels of available natural light. At Forum, one of the key considerations for INLUX was how to negate the negative visual strain for visitors as they transitioned from bright outdoors daylight into the darker shopping mall. By setting the system to gradually tone lux levels from higher to lower as visitors travel through the mall into the more central areas, visual comfort can be maintained.
As malls continue to become multi-faceted meeting spaces, with activity areas, restaurants and open-plan social spaces, these spaces need to be adaptable. DALI lighting control is a future-proof lighting solution which offers the ability to create different lighting scenes in different areas of the space with ease – resulting in a space which can be adjusted over time as space requirements change.
Circadian lighting (human-centric lighting) has been commissioned throughout the mall, ensuring that lighting remains dynamic and matches the natural light colour temperature outside; ideal for maintaining optimal wellbeing and visual comfort. Closed off areas of the mall which have little to no natural daylight benefit greatly from this natural-style lighting, as visitors and employees can still benefit from a perfectly appropriate ambience for the time of day, and for their circadian rhythms. For those who prefer late-night shopping trips, Forum offers a welcoming lighting ambience, since lighting can be automatically dimmed throughout the mall as the evening draws in.
Munich, Germany, 
