The expansion of River West marked a new chapter for the shopping complex, introducing an open-air retail and leisure environment that blends architecture, landscape, and light. Ten years after its first inauguration, the new development extends the mall’s activity outdoors, integrating retail, dining, and recreational areas within a lush setting of water features, trees, and planted banks. The design transforms the commercial complex into a vibrant urban destination where visitors experience comfort, play, and discovery throughout the day and night.

The lighting design defines the atmosphere of this new environment, connecting architecture and landscape through a cohesive visual language. A layered masterplan organizes the light according to circulation, orientation, and spatial character — varying in color temperature, intensity, and direction to respond sensitively to material textures and forms. Warm, diffused illumination enhances the stone and planting surfaces, while accent lighting articulates key pathways, plazas, and gathering points, ensuring both clarity and visual rhythm.

Across plazas, amphitheaters, and play zones, light works as both a functional and emotional medium — guiding movement while emphasizing openness, texture, and reflection. Water surfaces shimmer with subtle grazing light, amplifying the multisensory experience of sound and movement. Carefully controlled luminance levels maintain comfort and visual harmony, supporting the development’s identity as an accessible, welcoming public space.

An adaptive lighting control system modulates scenes throughout the day and across seasons, responding to natural light conditions to sustain visual balance and energy efficiency. By night, the entire complex transforms into a cohesive illuminated landscape — lively yet calm, sophisticated yet inviting — where light orchestrates a seamless connection between commerce, recreation, and nature.