Bluewater Retail Park is the result of many years of research by Australian developers Lend Lease. Europe's largest Retail Park is strategically positioned in the South-East, near the M25 and A2 roads, within an hour's drive for 10 million potential customers, or "guests" as they are referred to by Bluewater’s creators. Chief Architect for the project, Texan Eric Kuhne, decreed that a visit to Bluewater should be "an experience", not just a shopping trip.
Lend Lease’s research revealed that customers value the opportunity to escape from the shopping scrum to leisure areas, so landscaping was carefully integrated into the plan, with the idea in mind that a relaxed shopper stays longer... 4700 mature trees were planted, with species carefully selected to ensure that future growth would not interfere with the exterior lighting.
Exterior lighting for the £350m retail park was developed between lighting consultants Speirs & Major and DW Windsor Limited. From their appointment to the Bluewater project in 1995, Speirs & Major saw the task of lighting the retail complex in a totally holistic context. From the first roundabout, through the approach roads and into the shopping malls was seen as a seamless lighting exercise. As exterior lighting specialists, we were briefed to produce a bespoke column and luminaire design as part of a whole family of fixtures to be used throughout the site.
A unique luminaire design, with a wide brim and a diffuse blue spill light glowing in the canopy centre was developed for the Bluewater project. Special lighting columns with a steep taper of 18mm per metre (30% greater than the industry standard 12mm) were supplied by us together with cast aluminium finials to continue the taper to a point. The combination of a wide brim, advanced optics and flat glazing ensured zero light pollution. Asymmetric light distribution from the patented Diamond Optic® illuminance reflector system gave the planners flexibility with column placement, and allowed the car parking areas to be lit from the ideal centreline position. A stipulated mounting height of 6m for the car park luminaires made further demands on the light distribution capabilities of the Diamond Optic®. A trial installation in a car park setting was used to prove the Bluewater luminaire design, different mounting combinations and the colour and intensity of the blue spill light from the luminaire canopy. Rio
