Our biggest retail project to date has to be American Dream. We were lighting designers for the 3 million square foot retail experience incorporating an indoor ski hill, skating rink, waterpark, outdoor ferris wheel, aquarium, amusement park and over 350 retailers including a luxury row called “The Avenue”.  Our team at Gabriel Mackinnon has decades of experience illuminating retail spaces and shopping centres, primarily in the public realm and front of house spaces, but you could fit several of them into this project!

We worked with the talented team at Benoy (then GH+A) and Adamson and Associates Architects under the leadership of Triple 5 Group on this literally massive undertaking. Gabriel Mackinnon’s scope included complete lighting design for all concourse areas, washrooms, dining areas, the rink and more. We were involved from concept through to construction administration and aim and focus. Our team travelled biweekly to Meadowlands, NJ to participate in team meetings for around two years, working on the project for approximately 8 years. It takes a lot of coordination to build something so large to such a high level! The full ceilings of glass skylights, curving coves, and textured ceilings were particular project challenges, and the lighting specification faced a lot of budget pressure over the course of construction, but we were able to hold our specification and provide top quality lighting, making a great space that photographs well and will last.

The next time you are in the New York area, you should stop by and check it out, and we hope you never think that your project might be too big for our small team. You can take a look in the Retail / Hospitality section of our portfolio for more retail projects! We Canadians were very honoured to be the lighting designers for American Dream.

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