Watergardens Shopping Centre is a focal point for the community in the growing township of Taylors Lakes in Melbourne’s western suburbs. The centre’s owner, QIC, has recently extended the centre and introduced a new ‘eat street’ offering a variety of hospitality options including a wide range of restaurants and taverns.
Electrolight’s brief from QIC was to design a catenary light sculpture which would not only illuminate the street but would also create a spectacular entry statement for patrons entering from the station or car parks.
The concept for the commercial outdoor lighting design uses the geometric language of the existing graphic centre motif with simple lines that reinforce the Watergardens brand and encourage an engagement with the precinct as a whole. The lines are a luminous manifestation of the journey made by visitors from arrival at the Watergardens Station to destinations within the centre. At strategic points along the journey the lines burst like fireworks into smaller lines of light reminiscent of iron filings drawn towards a magnetic centre. The creation of interweaving and meandering lines along the length of the street lead the eye to the town square and covered shopping centre. The luminaire lines signal points of interest and transform the social space by creating a sense of intimacy and movement.
