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136 TECHNOLOGY / CASE STUDY NO MALL FEAT


Funky mall combines Lumenpulse LED fixtures and wind turbines to deliver pop-art impact as well as saving energy and inspiring business turnaround.


Located in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Cermak Plaza is not just another shopping centre. Since being built in 1956, at the height of America’s suburban shopping mall construction boom, the plaza has experienced a rich history that includes cameo appearances in Hollywood movies (1992’s Wayne’s World from Mike Meyers, and 2008’s Wanted starring Angelina Jolie) and visionary displays of contemporary art sculptures introduced by founder and passionate patron of the arts, David Bermant.


Being over half a century old, Cermak Plaza has also been no stranger to economic booms and lows. In 2008 with intense competition locally, a building that was starting to show its age, and the bankruptcy and loss of an anchor store... the plaza was operating with an all-time low occupancy rate of just 40%. To turn the tide back to business growth, the owners began planning a dramatic revitalisation of the property that would bring new occupants back to this local landmark. “We wanted a new, fresh, exciting building that incorporated public art and that would reinvent the plaza,” said Michael Flight, president of Concordia Realty Corp, the firm completing the redevelopment of Cermak Plaza. “The original developer Bermant was focused on unique art that utilised light, colour and motion so we wanted to carry that through into the renovation.” Ethos Workshop, Architects and Planners, was commissioned to lead the design effort for the multi-million dollar project, which included a complete façade redevelopment. The challenge remained: how to bring the public art element to the building. “We asked the question: why can’t we make the property an art piece in itself?” said Scott Allman, AIA, president of Ethos Workshop. “That’s when we started conceptualising how to use lighting in an innovative and artistic way that would add to the consumer experience while also giving the entire property greater visibility from passing automobiles.”


The architects envisioned a dramatic new illuminated canopy to run above the stores, along with new marquee towers. Lighting the canopy presented a number of challenges. The feature lighting needed to be mounted in tight spaces, deliver


Photograph: Miller+Miller


striking controllable coloured light, and require minimal maintenance but be easily accessible should maintenance be required. Further, the system needed to perform flawlessly in cold Illinois winters. Ethos Workshop turned immediately to LEDs, recognising that no other technology would satisfy the stringent demands of the project. But there was still work to do in convincing the building owners that LED lighting was the way to go. A perception of high cost and newer, unproven technology meant that the realty company took a little convincing to understand the benefits. Lumenpulse Lumenfacade RGB fixtures were used for the feature lighting in the plaza because they ticked all the boxes. The small footprint of the luminaires enabled them to be mounted into the canopy, and by performing well in temperatures as low as -25C/-13F, the extreme winter weather did not pose a problem.


The solution also takes the greener element of LEDs a step further; Cermak Plaza powers the Lumenpulse fixtures with twelve wind turbines that cultivate energy from the edge of the plaza’s parking lot. In combination with the energy efficient lighting, the 35 foot tall turbines are a dynamic, visible and recognisable environmental statement as well as an artistic feature that generates 1,500 to 2,500 kilowatt hours of electricity each year. During the daytime, when the LED


fixtures are off, unused power is directed back to the grid – actually earning income for Cermak Plaza Associates LLC which also receives a federal credit for installing green technology.


The lighting system is pre-programmed with more than 100 unique light shows, which vary from default color changing sequences to themed displays for seasons and holidays throughout the year. In fact, control of the system can be completely hands-off – with pre-programmed shows running for the whole year at the push of a button. The endless options made choosing which light shows to use, the biggest challenge of the installation... a good problem to have! Additionally a Lumentouch keypad is located on the premises, allowing the building owners full access to the control options through a LumenID DMX interface, so they can override existing shows whenever they want. Finally Cermak Plaza’s maintenance concerns were quickly addressed through the unique Lumenpulse dual chamber design which is used in the Lumenfacade products. This exclusive approach dissipates heat to increase the longevity of the light source to an L70 lifetime of 120,000 hours, while drivers can be easily replaced without having to replace the entire fixture, making the lighting solution truly sustainable and significantly reducing maintenance costs. www.lumenpulse.com


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