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At the ripe old age of 46, the Cherry Hill Mall in New Jersey was beginning to show its age. Built
in 1961 by The Rouse Company, it is one of the truly classic vintage malls along the northeast
seaboard. With 1.3 million sq ft of leaseable space, Cherry Hill Mall is a prime example
of the era in which enclosed malls were grandiose showplaces. It was such a tourist attraction that
postcards were issued shortly after it opened for visitors to show friends the terrific place they had
just seen.
Its current owner/operator, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), recognized that
Cherry Hill Mall could not continue to significantly grow its share of the lucrative retail market in southern
New Jersey and the nearby Philadelphia area without a major overhaul. Some modernizations had
been done over the intervening years, but the results were patchwork and lacked visual cohesion. Striving
for a more dramatic makeover, PREIT embarked on a two-year, $218 million renovation and expansion
of the entire mall. Initiated in 2007, it was substantially completed for the November 2008 opening. A
Nordstrom store joined Macy’s and JCPenney as anchors and brought the total number of retailers to 160.
The design team for the renovation and expansion was led by the architect JPRA of Novi, MI, with
the lighting design by Grenald Waldron Associates (GWA) of Narberth, PA. Together, PREIT facility
specialists, JPRA and GWA developed a joint program to create a distinctive lively ambiance inside
and a colorful and welcoming exterior.
“We mutually established a set of priority objectives,” says William Kader, project manager for
GWA. “For JPRA, it was to make the interior spaces open and airy, create a continuity of design for all
public areas, and improve sight lines, circulation patterns and wayfinding for visitors. For GWA, the
lighting program would illuminate dim and underlit spaces, enhance the architectural design, add
drama with lighting as part of the ambience, and of course, be energy-efficient.” Kader collaborated
with Lee Waldron and Lauren Roberts on the lighting design.
The mall splits into two levels past the food court. PREIT pointed out to the designers that this section
of the mall was experiencing a decrease in traffic and an increase in vacancies. “The renovation
had to upgrade the image of this area and create a visual element that would make it easy and attractive
for shoppers to visit this level,” says Kader.
The mall remained open during the renovation; sections where construction was underway were
sealed off. All interior partitions and wall surfaces were removed. Materials and finishes were closely
coordinated by JPRA with the lighting design to provide a soft reflective quality and an energyconservation
element. “The master plan was devised as a combination of white layered architectural
surfaces with integrated layered lighting,” says Kader.
LAYERS AROUND A SKYLIGHT
The centerpiece for the renovated Grand Court is a long skylight that has been integrated into the
new architectural design of the Grand Court. “The old Grand Court looked very dated,” recalls Kader.
“It had a curved ceiling with massive columns and a water feature in the center that made it difficult
for visitors to navigate the space.”
Column covers were narrowed and reclad to coordinate with the polished stone flooring. Daylighting
that enters the space from the skylight becomes a visual transition feature from the outdoors through the
main entrance. The skylight is flanked on both sides by three stepped-down layers that bring down the
55-ft-high scale of the court and serve as an overhead frame. “We wanted the layers to have a clean outline
to celebrate the skylight and complement the contours of the ceiling planes,” adds Kader.
Layers of ambient light articulate the surfaces and define the architectural coves and ceiling setbacks.
To create depth and texture, 28-W T5 3,500K linear fluorescent lamps beam upward to emphasize
the layers and add another dimension with the reflected illumination. Two of the three layers
contain 70-W metal halide recessed downlights, which were also used above the mall’s interior
walkways.
To accent the structural beams across the skylight, the same 4-ft-long T5 lamps were placed at each
beam’s structural attachment points. When activated in the evening, they add rhythmic punctuation
above the architectural statement of the triple layers.
MORE THAN ESCALATORS
To meet PREIT’s objective of drawing traffic to the second level towards the new Nordstrom store,
a free-standing pair of escalators was treated as a multi-dimensional sculpture. Suspended from the
ceiling by cables and mirroring the escalator’s upward thrust are a trio of illuminated ribbon-like
forms. Fluorescent tubes are threaded through the curved, perforated extruded aluminum panels,
providing direct and indirect light. The effect is motion and curves within the court’s rectangular
geometry that complement curves in the ceiling. A mosaic pattern at the escalator landing adds to the
artistic expression of the setting.
GWA proposed adding lighting under the escalators to provide another visual incentive for shoppers
to use the escalators to explore the mall’s second level. Three designs were submitted: light
fixtures placed in linear slots; backlit panels for solid illumination coverage; and an arrangement of
LEDs that would be mirrored in the reflected pool beneath the escalators. “The budget for all three
solutions was comparable,” Kader says. “When a panel of the .5-W LED coin lights covered by a 4-ft
section of blue-tinted glass was mocked up, everyone involved with the selection process could see
the effect we wanted to achieve, and it became the winning entry.” Transformers to power the LEDs
are under the escalator support platform.
The concourse from the Grand Court to the Macy’s anchor is identified overhead with a dropped bilevel
illuminated oval, with blue light accenting its form. Ceiling coves on both sides of the concourse
beam light upward to the ceiling. Together with light spill from the store fronts, the 20-25 footcandle
illumination level creates a lively and welcoming environment for shoppers.
In the food court, lighting is used to define the food vending area and seating sections. Dropped coves
over the seating area, similar in design to the triple coves in the Grand Court, utilize reflected light and
downlights to create an atmosphere conducive to enjoyable dining. Support columns are treated with enclosed
panels of LED lamps to add a subtle visual pattern to the length of the court. Color-changing LED
luminaires lining the top and bottom of a window wall at the terminus of the food court capture natural
light by day. By night, their color-changing program effects add to the dining experience.
THE LURE
Exterior architecture and lighting were coordinated to draw vehicular traffic from the busy surrounding
roadways. “Previously, visitors had difficulty finding the mall’s entries from the parking areas,”
Kader notes. GWA’s solution was lighting subsystems that create a distinctive contemporary image.
In-ground LED lighting follows curving contrasting paving blocks. Oval-shaped 14-ft-high columns
have top-and-bottom illumination provided by 50-W 3,000K metal halide lamps. Color-changing lighting
above the entrances is beamed from behind frosted and fritted glass to transmit the light. “These
combined elements aid in wayfinding and create distinctive design features that complement the mall’s
new exterior architecture.”
May 2010 |
