Cermak Plaza

Cermak Plaza, a 1950s shopping mall in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois has been given a new lease of life with a color-changing illuminated canopy using Lumenpulse Lumenfacade™ RGB fixtures. The feature lighting continues a tradition of the mall of attracting customers using art, by turning the 30,000 square foot strip mall into a glowing piece of art.

"We asked the question: why can't we make the property an art piece in itself?" said Scott Allman, AIA, president of architectural firm Ethos Workshop. "That's when we started conceptualizing 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."

Ethos Workshop chose Lumenfacade fixtures because their small footprint made them simple to mount and their rugged design allows them to perform well in the cold Illinois winter at temperatures as low as -13^oF (-25^oC). Their dual chamber design significantly reduces the need for maintenance by increasing the L70 lifespan of the LED light sources to 120,000 hours. Drivers and other components can be replaced without having to replace the entire fixture.

"We saw a demo of the Lumenpulse product, and examples of other installations. The longevity of the fixtures was convincing and the cost/benefit ratio worked," said Michael Flight, president of Concordia Realty Corp, the firm completing the redevelopment, which has helped boost leases at the mall to 98% from a low of 40%.

The lighting system is pre-programmed with more than 100 unique light shows, including themed displays, but it can also controlled using a Lumentouch keypad and LumenID™ DMX interface.

Equipment Specified

70 x Lumenfacade Color Changing (4', 10˚x60˚ optic)
6 x Lumenfacade Color Changing (3', 10˚x60˚ optic)
1 x Lumentouch intelligent keypad
1 x LumenID USB DMX hardware interface