Respecting common sense, realizing inspiration | In-depth review of layered Color temperature commercial lighting at Songjiang Impression City

On August 13, the "Fudan Light" series of salons was broadcast live via Ming Classroom and Lao Hong Talks Lighting’s video account. The event featured Gu Wenyi, an illumination designer at Difei Hotel Design Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and an alumnus of Fudan University, who provided an in-depth analysis of the entire process behind the lighting design for Shanghai Songjiang Impression City.

Teacher Gu Wenyi graduated from Fudan University with a major in Light Sources and Illumination. With over 20 years of experience in lighting design, she serves as a member of the editorial committee responsible for revising the national standards “Urban Nightscape Lighting Design Standard JGJ/T 163” and “LED Indoor Lighting Standard GB/T 31831.” She has extensive expertise in designing lighting for various commercial and hospitality spaces, combining high-level standard-setting with hands-on implementation on the front lines.

This session focused on an outstanding case from the 2026 Lighting Innovation Award—the indoor lighting design of Shanghai Songjiang Impression City. Located in Songjiang University Town and catering to students and young families, the project aligns closely with the architectural concept of “the fusion of two-dimensional and three-dimensional realms.” The project has received the LIT Lighting Design Excellence Award, the CREDAWARD Landscape Lighting Design Second Prize, and the 2026 Lighting Innovation Award Excellence Prize.

Core Philosophy: Respect Common Sense, Realize Inspiration

In her presentation, Teacher Gu Wenyi introduced a guiding design philosophy that runs throughout: "Respect Common Sense, Realize Inspiration."

She offered a profound analysis of the current challenges facing commercial real estate lighting design:

The primary concerns of developers include commercial returns, safety compliance, cost control, operational efficiency, user experience, and project timelines—these have already been codified into standardized internal protocols within large commercial groups.

Meanwhile, designers aspire to express concepts, create unique spatial experiences, and thoughtfully consider circulation patterns.

"On the left are established paradigms, industry conventions, and proven pathways; on the right lies what we wish to convey. A designer's task is to find a narrow gap between these two," emphasized Gu Wenyi. "Innovation isn't about overturning rules—it's about identifying that small element worth changing."

Designers must understand why developers have set these guidelines and gradually address their concerns, rather than simply urging them to "be bolder."

Key Design: A Layered, Three-Dimensional Color Temperature System Ranging from 2700K to 6500K

The Logic Behind Color Temperature Zoning

The most innovative aspect of the Songjiang Impression City lighting design lies in its creative integration with interior space planning, employing a tiered color temperature scheme spanning 2700K to 6500K:

B1 Food Zone (A Bustling Market): Warm light at 2700K, evoking the lively atmosphere of everyday life.

Mid-Level Retail Area: Neutral light at 3000K–3500K, perfectly matching a fashionable shopping ambiance.

Top-Level Trendy Play Zone (Two-Dimensional Realm): Cool white light ranging from 4000K to 6500K, harmonizing with a tech-savvy vibe and anime-inspired settings.

This color temperature zoning wasn’t arbitrary—it was meticulously aligned with the architect’s narrative logic. The building itself features distinct layering in materials, wall textures, and floor hues, and the lighting designer’s role was to “carry forward” this story, seamlessly integrating light with space.

The complete storyline: Songjiang is the cultural origin of Shanghai, with the Guangfulin Ruins embodying deep historical roots, while Songjiang University Town attracts a vibrant younger demographic.

The aim is to blend Guangfulin’s rich historical and cultural elements with the modern lifestyles of young people and families.

A Dual Color Temperature Imagery in the North-South Atriums

The project boasts two atriums—one running north-south, approximately 70 meters in span. The northern atrium is defined as a “two-dimensional” space, featuring cooler color temperatures (up to 6500K), echoing the octopus jellyfish installation at the top; the southern atrium leans toward a “three-dimensional” aesthetic, utilizing warm, neutral lighting.

Gu Wenyi specifically noted that despite the significant contrast in color temperatures between the north and south atriums, there is no visual fragmentation on-site. This is due to carefully crafted gradient transitions in the intermediate spaces, complemented by natural daylight, resulting in a highly harmonious overall environment.

"This project is one I’m particularly eager to recommend to clients, because within a single space and in a short period of time, you can experience every color temperature—from 2700K underground all the way up to 6500K at the top."

Implementation Challenges: The Price of Inspiration

The entire layered color temperature system relies on extensive self-luminous LED strips, which represent both the project’s greatest innovation and its biggest challenge. Teacher Gu Wenyi thoroughly reviewed the practical issues encountered during implementation:

1. Discontinuities in Brightness During Color Temperature Transitions

The project utilized 28W linear color-changing LED strips for floor transition zones. These strips rely on dual sets of LEDs mixing colors, but when dimming occurs, the power drops directly to 14W, creating noticeable brightness disparities. Ultimately, the team adopted two solutions: first, customizing segmented fixed-color temperature strips with manufacturers (each segment covering 5 meters, transitioning subtly from 3300K to 3400K) to mitigate visual gaps; second, using smoke barriers and finished partitions to physically separate sections, avoiding the stark visual breaks caused by continuous strip splicing.

2. Adjusting Unconventional Decorative Lighting Features

The project made extensive use of triangular self-luminous panels, metal wind blades, and distinctive illuminated mesh screens—each presenting uneven lighting uniformity issues: acrylic joints showing dark streaks, metal panels with uneven illumination on one side, and ceiling-mounted light boxes exhibiting imbalanced brightness between top and bottom. Through multiple on-site prototype tests, the team adjusted fixture installation angles and added auxiliary supplementary light strips to achieve optimization. Gu Wenyi advises peers working on similar designs to allocate ample time for repeated on-site testing in advance.

3. Obstruction Caused by Multi-Layer Overlapping Floodlights

Floodlights installed across staircases and open-plan areas were not cross-checked against facade drawings, leading to upper-floor fixtures casting shadows onto lower levels. In such cases, only on-site drilling and retrofitting of downlights could resolve the issue. She reminds commercial lighting designers to simultaneously verify all floodlight locations on both plan and elevation drawings.

4. Managing Compliance Boundaries for High Color Temperatures

The 2700K–4000K range fully complies with national indoor lighting standards; however, the 4000K–6500K cool white light is used exclusively for decorative installations in the atriums and does not constitute long-term customer occupancy areas, thus avoiding regulatory risks. At the same time, Gu Wenyi pointed out that current national standards for corridor illuminance in shopping malls are relatively low, failing to match the actual operating needs of leading commercial groups, which typically require 200–1000 lux. She called for industry-wide improvements to lighting regulations for large shopping centers.

Interactive Q&A

During the Q&A session, Teacher Gu Wenyi addressed audience questions in detail:

Q: What criteria guide the division of layered color temperature zones? And how do multi-floor color-changing luminaires achieve seamless, gradual transitions without abrupt breaks?

A: Color temperature layering begins with the architect’s pre-defined differentiation of floor materials and functional zoning—ground-floor dining naturally suits warm light, while upper-floor trendy play areas pair best with cool white light. On-site implementation follows a strategy of “layered fixed color temperatures plus transitional gradients”: B1 uniformly maintains 2700K; floors 1–2 feature 3500K on the left and 3000K on the right; floors 3–4 show 4000K on the left and 3500K on the right; and the northern atrium, influenced by wind chimes and octopus installations, directly reaches 6500K.

As for the brightness halving issue encountered during transitions, it was ultimately resolved through two approaches: first, customizing segmented fixed-color temperature strips (adjusting color temperature by 100K every 5 meters); second, employing smoke barriers as physical partitions. For new projects, she recommends increasing the power of transitional luminaires upfront to address dimming issues at the source.

Q: With significant contrasts in color temperature between the north and south atriums, how do you balance visual fragmentation and ensure overall harmony?

A: There is no obvious fragmentation in the project. The key reason lies in the natural gradation within the space—from 2700K at the base gradually rising to 6500K at the top—allowing visitors to experience color temperature changes step by step along their movement paths. Meanwhile, natural light streaming downward complements this progression, aligning with human visual perception habits. She remarked, “I’m extremely proud of this project. Many clients lack understanding of color temperature, so I often tell them, ‘Come visit Songjiang Impression City and see for yourself.’”

Q: As a member of the national standard revision committee, how do you strike a balance between creative lighting designs and mandatory national standards or commercial constraints?

A: The conventional 2700K–4000K range fully complies with existing national standards; the 6500K high color temperature is reserved solely for decorative installations in the atriums, where customers do not linger long, thus avoiding any regulatory violations. Regarding illuminance, current national standards for mall corridors only mandate 50 lux, yet commercial groups like Wanda and Vanke operate under much higher standards of 800–1000 lux. The project prioritizes commercial operational needs while also advocating for updated lighting regulations for large shopping centers. Overall, innovations remain within recommended limits, focusing on scenario-based optimizations rather than breaching mandatory requirements.

Q: With tenants occupying 100,000 square meters of retail space arriving at different times, and individual shops installing their own lighting fixtures—which can disrupt the overall color temperature system—what preventive measures have been put in place?

A: The core control mechanism lies in preliminary zoning based on business types, preventing conflicts at the source: upper-floor tenants specializing in trendy play areas naturally prefer cool white light, while ground-floor dining establishments suit warm yellow light. This natural alignment of business types and floor color temperatures significantly reduces communication disputes. A few special cases—such as colorful cold-light equipment in a game hall on a particular floor—cannot be uniformly controlled, so priority is given to tenant-operational needs, ensuring that localized lighting does not undermine the mall’s overall tone. “Commercial operations should prioritize tenant interests and mutual consultation; if consensus cannot be reached, the developer takes precedence—this is the conscientious stance of the service provider,” she explained.

Q: Many malls aspire to replicate the layered color temperature model, but developers worry about high fixture costs and complex maintenance. Are there cost-effective simplified implementation strategies?

A: The main sources of cost and maintenance pressure stem from continuous color-changing LED strips and DMX dimming systems. Simplifying implementation hinges on two key ideas: first, minimizing continuous gradient designs by using physical partitions—smoke barriers, ceiling decorations, and floor material boundaries—to delineate distinct color temperature zones, thereby eliminating long-distance color-changing strips; second, abandoning full-floor continuous gradients altogether, instead dividing the space into four basic color temperature quadrants, equipping each zone with fixed-color temperature downlights and standard LED strips, and introducing only minor transitional adjustments at nodal points. This approach dramatically reduces procurement and subsequent maintenance costs associated with dimming systems and non-standard fixtures.

Summary & Insights

The lighting design of Songjiang Impression City has established a replicable innovation paradigm for suburban commercial lighting: staying within the bounds of mature industry practices while making measured innovations, empowering mall foot traffic and business performance through layered color temperature lighting.

"Respecting common sense reflects reverence for experience, while realizing inspiration demonstrates responsibility toward the future."

Gu Wenyi noted that today’s AI tools free designers from repetitive tasks, enabling practitioners to seek innovative entry points within standardized frameworks. Younger designers, meanwhile, can leverage their creative strengths to craft differentiated spaces within established systems, forging their own core competitive advantages.

Note: This article is compiled from the recording of Teacher Gu Wenyi’s August 13, 2026, lecture titled “Indoor Lighting Design for Songjiang Impression City,” hosted by Ming Classroom and published by Ming Classroom.

Click here to watch the replay