The Playce
An improvement in functionality
A place of light experience in the heart of Berlin
More than just a shopping center: "The Playce" is the place to shop, enjoy, play and marvel at the Potsdamer Platz. In the heart of the capital, the former "Potsdamer Platz Arkaden" has been extensively revitalized and converted into a contemporary meeting place for shopping, gastronomy, entertainment, art and culture.
The lighting concept, designed by Bartenbach, combines aesthetics and functionality to create a spatial experience that not only invites Berliners and visitors to feel good but also to fully enjoy the experience. Harmonious light colors, different control groups and light arrangements create a natural pathway and harmoniously embed "The Playce" in the surrounding urban space.
The new name of the mall – "The Playce" – seems like a promise: the result is a unique place where people come together to interact and play. In addition to the 90 shops and more than 20 dining options, there is also a multiplex cinema, a casino and arcade, as well as a historic theatre and an art trail.
Attractive mix of daylight and artificial light
Bartenbach’s lighting designers combined artificial and daylight to create an atmospheric concept that underlines the experiential character of the location, enables intuitive visitor guidance and a pleasant atmosphere, stages the established brands in the best possible way and locates "The Playce" in the urban space of Berlin.
When planning the artificial lighting, Bartenbach focused on allowing as much natural light as possible to enter the interiors. After all, daylight not only supports people functionally in their perception, but it also has a positive effect on the biorhythm and keeps visitors awake and focused during their errands. For this purpose, skylights run through the shopping streets of the mall and there are large glass fronts at the entrances. These also ensure that the relationship between the interior and exterior is always established – and that people can orient themselves in space. The skylight design also contributes to energy efficiency targets: after all, it ensures that the need for artificial lighting is reduced.
Integration into Berlin's urban landscape
Whether eating, entertaining or shopping: Tailored to the respective room function, artificial light complements the lighting design in the form of different lighting fixtures and light sources. "Our goal was to create an organic pathway with varying lighting levels throughout the site," says Maximilian Mader-Ofer, project manager at Bartenbach. "'The Playce' should feel less like a mere road connection or a closed indoor mall. Rather, we wanted to open up the building to the outside world and stage it as part of the urban space."
The harmonious integration into the surrounding urban landscape also includes a harmonious color scheme that changes depending on the time of day, the use of the room and the daylight situation. In order to create a pleasant and inviting atmosphere, Bartenbach relies on warm-tone lighting. On the ground floor and upper floors, the light colors vary between 3,500 K (neutral white) and 2,200 K (warm white). In the basement, the color temperature is controlled in the range between 4,200 K and 2,200 K.
Perceived safety and quality of stay
The precisely adapted light colors not only help to increase the quality of stay and the sense of safety in 'The Playce'," says Maximilian Mader-Ofer, Project Manager at Bartenbach. "The composition of the LED light spectrum also has very practical reasons and ensures reduced insect flight." With a view to the surrounding urban spaces, Bartenbach has also taken care to keep the light pollution emanating from the mall in the outdoor space as low as possible.
Indoors, a high level of vertical light and balanced contrasts ensure that facial recognition is easily possible even indoors. This gives visitors a feeling of security and creates a positive atmosphere in the room.
With the revitalization of the former "Potsdamer Platz Arkaden", an attractive urban experience location with a contemporary lighting solution has been created. Centrally located and sensitively embedded in the ensemble of buildings at Potsdamer Platz, "The Playce" contributes to an attractive and sustainable urban space in Berlin – and is perceived positively by the people in the capital.