A huge shopping mall, called L’Atoll, has been recently built according to the guidelines of a new commercial development plan of the French city of Angers, located in the north western district of the Loire. The main goal of this environmental friendly project was to design a gateway to the town of Angers that should be completely plunged in the surrounding rural area, while providing an architecturally outstanding alternative to the local existing shopping facilities. Ranked as one of the first and foremost eco-business park in Europe, L’Atoll is focused on sustainability, renewable energy sources, global recycling.

Shaped like a slightly irregular ellipse, this futuristic shopping center features an exterior layout that reflects the adjacent landscape into the form of a true oceanic atoll which hosts within its over 250,000 square metres’ area more than 60 one-brand stores arranged in a dynamic layout, manifold restaurants and bars, children playgrounds and attractions, inside and outside car parks and ground-breaking customer services.  Standing about 8 to 12 metres apart from the main building, the elliptical outside structure of the atoll provides a reserved area behind the shops suitable for good deliveries that offers at the same time a clear passage for security services.

Trademark of L’Atoll, this exterior ring is covered by a pearl white aluminium mesh, which creates a recurring honeycomb decorative pattern. While up to a height of 3m, a thick perforation in the mesh hides the lower part of the inside structure to prying eyes, from a height of 3 to 12m, a larger diamond-shaped cobweb defines the outer appearance of the whole structure with a distinctive lay-out. This honeycomb design is gorgeously highlighted by a back-lighting system that further enhances, through a game of colour and shadows, the outside frame of the atoll.

Following the green building guidelines of the construction, the lighting designer in charge of the project, Lucas Goyx, was looking for discrete lighting fixtures that could be able to comply with all the demanding prerequisites, while offering an outstanding lighting performance. Supplied by GRIVEN’s exclusive distributor for France, the company CSI,  the Lyon based company Audio Equipement Groupe IEC, has therefore installed 42 units of GRIVEN Everest CYM 900 right behind the pearl white aluminium mesh of the building. Located along the whole perimeter of the atoll in the gap between the diamond shaped wall and the building main structure, the Everest CYM 900 units highlight the rear side of the ring, delivering an astonishing three-dimensional appearance to the outside pattern, owing to the deep contrast created between the back-lit walls and the shadowy outside mesh.