journal article·2026-05-09Open access

Weighted-Sum Optimization of Shopping-Mall Atrium Morphology Using a Field-Based Visual Satisfaction Proxy and sDA-Based Daylight Sufficiency

Hupeng Wu, Xinxin Li, Teng Shao, Hong Jin

Applied Sciences· Volume 16· Issue 10

Abstract

Daylighting in shopping-mall atriums affects both perceived visual quality and the availability of daylight for reducing electric-light use under daylight-responsive control. However, early-stage atrium design still lacks a reproducible workflow that connects field-based user-response evidence with parametric daylight simulation in retail settings. This study develops a weighted-sum design-search workflow for shopping-mall atrium morphology by combining a luminance-based visual satisfaction proxy with spatial daylight autonomy (sDA300/50%) as an annual daylight-sufficiency indicator. Morphological parameter ranges were derived from a survey of 150 atriums in 26 shopping malls in China, and three prevalent atrium types were retained for simulation-based testing. ClimateStudio/Radiance simulations were used to calculate scene mean luminance and sDA300/50%, and particle swarm optimization was used as a practical search algorithm under a fixed baseline weighting scenario. The reported high-scoring solutions reached sDA saturation, indicating that the final score differences were mainly governed by the luminance-based satisfaction term within the high-daylight-sufficiency region. This study contributes a retail-oriented, reproducible design-search workflow for early-stage atrium morphology decisions, while the results should be interpreted as scenario-based preferred solutions rather than statistically confirmed global optima or a complete visual-risk/energy-performance assessment.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Building Energy and Comfort Optimization · Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control · Smart Grid Energy Management

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China

School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei Engineering and Technology Research Center of Urbanization, Wuhan 430074, China

School of Mechanics, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China

School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Key Laboratory of Cold Region Urban and Rural Human Settlement Environment Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Harbin 150001, China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China

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