There’s San Antonio’s Riverwalk, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor Set and, now, Branson Landing in Missouri – all leading tourist destinations offering a mix of shopping, dining and entertainment.

Also called, “The Great American Waterfront Town,” Branson Landing is a new mixed-use waterfront development occupying 95 acres, including 1.5 miles of waterfront on Lake Taneycomo. The shopping promenade incorporates a rich mixture of retail outlets.

Designers sought to give the complex an edge by incorporating entertainment throughout the development. Illuminating Concepts (IC, Farmington Hills, Mich.), an architectural and themed lighting design and consulting firm, and Martin Architectural (Aarhus, Denmark), a division of Martin Professional A/S that produces automated lighting, worked together to turn that illuminating idea into reality.

The project included designs for all of the exterior architectural lighting, theatrical and show lighting, light towers, audio integration, control systems, implementation, project management, procurement and logistics.

The result is lighting spectacular. The fun starts at the promenade, where six districts are separated by differing architecture and activities. Here, designers added new luminaries to visually enhance the pedestrian level of the mile-long promenade and nearby fountain water shows. More than 100 streetlamps from Holophane (Newark, Ohio) were installed within the six districts, each with its own design. The streetlamps combine a Holophane luminaire outfitted with a Martin Exterior 200 CMY color-changing module, turning a standard roadway lighting fixture into a dynamic color changing fixture.

The color-changing lamps operate in white mode to light the pedestrian walkway throughout most of the day, then come alive to become part of the theatrical experience for events and themed shows. Additionally, audio speakers concealed in each streetlamp base deliver music.

Throughout the mixed-use development, retail façades and trees are up lit using Martin’s Exterior 200 and Inground 200 color changers, located in flower pots and spaced approximately every 40 feet. “The flower pot idea grew out of a construction issue that prevented us from placing the lighting as close to the buildings as we needed to for coverage purposes,” said Kenneth Klemmer, IC’s design director on the project. “So this was our solution. The effect is really nice.”

The development’s two major fountain areas also get the spotlight and become a draw throughout the area. Located near the Town Square, complete with a 1500-seat amphitheater, a lighted water fountain now serves as the project's entertainment headquarters thanks to an infusion of color illumination from Martin Exterior 200 luminaries. The lighting works with fire and water to create a show that draws visitors to the area. Further down the promenade is another fountain with its own white-light water show.

“We recognized that after people view a show at the main fountain, they needed something else to get them back up the steps of the amphitheater, otherwise shoppers could easily return to their cars and only see half the project,” said Klemmer. “So the two fountains work in harmony so that after one show is over, the other immediately starts to draw people back up the steps where there is more to see. The goal is to increase retail sales by keeping them there longer, moving up and down the promenade.”

Also located at the Town Square are four custom-designed light towers meant to anchor the open space in order to create a special feel for the area. The towers also provide sound reinforcement for stage shows.

The final result is a lighting spectacular for visitors to enjoy throughout the year.

Owner/Developer: HCW Development, Branson, Mo.

Design Consultant: McBride Design, Miami, Fla.

Architecture: TVS Architects & Crawford Architects, Kansas City, Mo.

Engineering: Smith Boucher, Olathe, Kan.

Lighting Design: Illuminating Concepts, Farmington Hills, Mich.

Lighting: , Aarhus, Denmark; Holophane, Newark, Ohio

Water Features: WET Design, Sun Valley, Calif.

Photography: Illuminating Concepts (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Martin Professional (Aarhus, Denmark)