Moscow, Russia – Philips has today announced completion of a unique retail experience in Moscow – the illumination of the ‘Ginza’ shopping street inside Russia’s first themed shopping mall, Vegas.

Developed by the Crocus Group, the Vegas mall in south Moscow covers a total area of 386,000 square meters, making it one of the largest retail sites in the world and the first and only of its kind in Russia. The mall includes an amusement park with an 18-meter high observation wheel, a 19-meter tower drop ride and an ice rink, all located within the shopping center itself.
 
At over 130 meters long and more than 12 meters high, the Ginza street plays host to over 25 luxury shops, two restaurants and a recreation area, all evenly lit by warm white light in the Japanese ‘stone garden’ style. In creating the outdoor shopping experience indoors, a matrix of sparkling LED lights in the ceiling give the impression of a starry sky.  The atmosphere is further enriched by an array of dynamic Philips lighting technologies combined to create a continuously changing ambiance for visitors.

Working in close partnership with the Turkish design and project management experts Elemeği, a team of Philips lighting specialists from Turkey, the Netherlands and Russia combined forces to produce one of the largest permanent indoor lighting structures ever built, drawing on the latest Philips LED lighting solutions to recreate the pulse and atmosphere one of the busiest districts in Tokyo.

Philips’ involvement in the mall is contributing to one of the most significant developments in Russian retailing in recent years. “Vegas turns shopping into an exciting adventure attended with mystery and change,” comments the mall’s developer, Emin Agalarov of the Crocus Group.

We had a challenging task to recreate the atmosphere of the vibrant Ginza shopping street, and to embed it congruously in the shopping mall,” says Vladimir Gabrielyan, Vice President and General Manager of Philips Lighting in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia. “We applied dynamic lighting effects to arouse natural curiosity and keep visitors around as long as possible. Core LED lighting technology enabled us to bring the most ambitious ideas to life thanks to their structural flexibility, small size and energy efficiency. As a result, we now have one of the most striking and beautiful lighting projects Philips has ever been involved in.”

To achieve the desired effect, the Philips team had to develop 32 separate facades in different styles, with LEDs embedded in a variety of surfaces – perforated panels, acrylic beams, wood and metal panels, glass shutters and other materials. The lighting design aims to emphasize and highlight distinctions in each facade while maintaining a sense of a single ensemble.

Philips worked with Pharos, suppliers of advanced lighting control solutions, to enhance the lighting experience further, using Pharos control modules to enable continuously changing lighting patterns on 64 display surfaces, changing color to give a dazzling ‘performance’ to entertain and amaze shoppers.