Delivering an enriched shopping experience for the Sharjah community, Sharjah Central Mall is a world-class hypermarket and destination in its own right. Offering a comprehensive retail experience with hundreds of shops, a variety of restaurants, an 11-screen cinema and a 3,500m2 food court, Sharjah Central is owned by world renowned LuLu Group which has further strengthened its presence in the Emirate.
With a clear objective to provide a memorable retail experience and create a welcoming and engaging atmosphere, selecting the right lighting and lighting control system is key. From a façade that draws visitors in, to well-lit public areas and easy navigation, well controlled lighting has a positive impact on both visitors and employees alike. It helps to reduce costs through daylight harvesting and motion sensors, and makes the space a sustainable one.
Creation Gulf, a leading provider of architectural light fixtures and automation solutions, was appointed to supply, test and commission the lighting control solutions at the newly opened shopping mall for the common areas, landscape and the façade. The design brief was quite complex, especially for a mall which required unique effects and the ability for light shows for holidays and special occasions. As such, the Pharos LPC X (Lighting Playback Controller) was the control system selected from Pharos’ extensive product portfolio. It offers an extreme level of power and integration making it the perfect solution for landmark lighting installations with significant channel counts that one would expect with a building of this kind.
The LPC X works in conjunction with the Pharos TPS (Touch Panel Station) which offers an elegant touch screen interface with a customisable touch screen. The TPS is quick and easy to use when activating presets, manual overrides, or even to use a custom colour to personalise the lighting. This made it the perfect solution for the shopping centre, which can adapt its lighting throughout the day. Pharos’ RIO 80, 44 and 08 (Remote Input Output) devices were also selected to provide a convenient and scalable way to add inputs and outputs to a Pharos system; they are easy to install thanks to a single Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) network connection. Having a flexible solution is particularly pertinent in a fast-moving environment such as retail, where shops can often change their premises according to demand.
Commenting on the use of Pharos controls, Mr. Dharmendra Patel, MD, Creation Gulf said: “Pharos Controls was the obvious choice for Creation for the sophisticated DMX controls required on this stunning project. Our long-standing relations with GECO, the MEP contractor, formed a formidable team to execute and deliver a world class solution.
“After initial discussions with the client, LuLu Group, and designers, Design International UK, we demonstrated how a fully integrated combination of Pharos Controls + Artistic Licence + Helvar is an ideal solution for this project meeting all its design intent.”
Mark de Gruyter of Pharos added: “This has been a fantastic and extremely rewarding project to be a part of. Sharjah Central Mall is a world-class landmark destination, and we were delighted to supply the control system and work alongside Creation Gulf to achieve the eye-catching and striking lighting design that Sharjah Central deserves.”
Project credits:
Partner: Creation Gulf
Client: Lulu Group International
Consultant: Design International
Contractor: GECO
Photography / Videography: Courtesy of Creation Gulf
