Impact of Atrium Design on Lighting in Shopping Malls: Prestige Mall, Istanbul

Abstract

Shopping spaces, serving not only as centers of commerce but also as key areas promoting social interaction, are environments where users spend significant amounts of time. In such spaces, the limited capacity of buildings to utilize natural daylight poses challenges in terms of energy efficiency and design. To address this issue, atrium designs, which effectively bring daylight into interiors, are increasingly favored in large-scale structures like shopping malls. Atriums enhance visual comfort and reduce energy consumption by allowing natural light to penetrate deeply into interior spaces.This study analyzes the impact of the atrium design of the Prestige Mall shopping center in Istanbul on energy consumption for both natural and electric lighting, using the DIALux Evo software. In this context, variations in indoor illuminance levels during summer and winter periods were compared. The research tests the hypothesis that an efficiently designed atrium can minimize electric lighting demand and improve overall energy performance. The influence of daylight on lighting consumption during the summer period was calculated, while both daylight and electric lighting effects were evaluated during the winter period. The findings reveal that a well-designed atrium has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption. Consequently, the study highlights the potential of atrium designs to enhance energy efficiency in shopping malls and underscores their importance in sustainable architecture and energy management.