Lighting a new landmark at the gateway to Hong Kong

11 Skies is a 3.8-million-square-foot retail and entertainment destination at Hong Kong International Airport — the largest development of its kind in the territory. When New World Development commissioned the illumination design, the brief called for a lighting strategy that could unify an enormous and programmatically diverse complex.

The project contains over 800 shops, three Grade-A office towers, dining and entertainment venues, and connections to the airport and Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge. The lighting design had to serve retail, wayfinding, and placemaking functions while maintaining a coherent visual identity across the whole.

The approach organised the lighting into distinct layers: architectural lighting to define the building forms, functional lighting to guide circulation, and feature lighting to activate key retail and entertainment zones.

11 Skies is now under construction. When it opens, it will be one of the most significant retail destinations in Asia — and its lighting will play a central role in shaping how millions of visitors experience the complex.