Martin Smith, Gaffer and Chief Lighting Technician
Lighting is everywhere. But our industry focuses a lot on the real world and lighting environments we can all experience, from residential to commercial venues. However, lighting also plays a massive role in our entertainment.
The idea to do a feature called Lights on Screen was sparked during lockdown when I found myself with more time to binge-watch Netflix series’ during the winter months. I kept seeing lots of beautiful decorative pieces featured in new dramas and Hollywood blockbusters.
Alongside some of our manufacturer case studies that highlight their products on set, I sat down with a couple of industry lighting experts, or as they’re known, Gaffers, to find out more about the complexities of lighting on location or on set, and the teams behind creating that on-screen magic.
Martin Smith is a freelance Gaffer and Chief Lighting Technician based in the UK. However, as we all know, films take us all around the world, and Smith is part of the crew that follows the global productions.
Smith’s interest in all things electrical began when he left high school. Initially, he wanted to work as an airline engineer and had sourced an apprenticeship with British Airways, but unfortunately this fell through last minute. “I was only 15 when I left school,” he explains. “My uncle had an electrical firm and asked me whether I should do an electrical apprenticeship. So, I did. I completed a three-and-a-half-year electrical apprenticeship where you do a day release at college and the other four days you’re on the tools working for a supervisor or electrician’s mate. I spent about eight years in the electrical industry where I’d mainly work on fire and security system programmes.
“From this, I developed a passion for working in the electrical industry. My career direction started to shift when I was running quite a large job and I had a lot of guys working for me. It was here I learned a lot of management skills, how to budget, how to service, and the logistics of running a job. My girlfriend at the time’s dad was what’s known as a gaffer, and I thought that sounded interesting. He was going to work on location and going abroad, which all seemed like an exciting lifestyle. And so, I asked him, ‘Why am I going to work the same place every day for the last year, and you are flying off to Australia and Kenya?’
“Back in 1995, when I was 20 years old, he took me onto a film called Twelfth Night, directed by Trevor Nunn, that was shot in Cornwall. I went for one week’s work experience. As an already qualified electrician, I was allowed to work on set, but only as a trainee. But, I really, really enjoyed it. We worked on a week’s worth of shooting on location where we were in interiors and exteriors. It was the first time I’d seen film lights and practical lights [decorative lighting fixtures] being used together. Because they were shooting on film at this time, they needed to enhance the practical lights [prop lights such as table lamps] by changing the bulbs to gain more light output than a regular 40W lamp. They would upgrade them all to 275W or 500W light sources. Then they’d use other film lights to enhance what that practical fixture was doing.
“I got really interested in lighting there and the excitement of working on a movie at that young age that, but it fizzled out for a while, and I went back to my normal day job. “Unfortunately, I then split up with that girlfriend. I think her dad was keeping me at arm’s reach during the relationship because the whole time he knew what a volatile career working in film can be. I think he was being protective, but once the relationship ended, he said ‘Look, if you want to get into it, you need to go and work in a lighting rental house. You’re an electrician but go and learn the equipment’.”
In 1999, Smith got a job at AFM Lighting, which provided an in-house trainee scheme for electricians. Here, Smith worked for two years in the warehouse, learning the equipment, servicing, and maintaining it, and learning about the power systems, distributions, and generators, and earned his HGV license. Essentially, gaining as much knowledge about the film industry and the practical skills to safely run its lighting equipment.
“After the two years, they started sending me and a colleague that was also training out on jobs. We’d get up at 4:30am to take the equipment truck down to a location. You’d meet the gaffer and the electricians, and you’d rig for the day on a commercial set or on a small movie, setting all the lights and generators up.”
Smith continued in this role for another four to five years, building relationships with gaffers and understanding the set etiquettes and processes of a film productions. He worked on commercials and small features until his big break on the first Harry Potter movie being filmed in London.
“That’s where I really started to learn about lighting practicals,” he says. “The flambeaux, the big fire lights on the staircases and wall sconces, didn’t produce enough light because again we were shooting on film. So, we had to add practical lights to the base of each flame. They were safe from the fire, but they enhanced the light with 10KW and 5KW light sources in each. I just found it fascinating that there was a department dedicated to doing these practical elements of lighting. We were responsible for rigging huge lighting elements for the windows in the Great Hall as well as there being a department of six people building bespoke lights for the sets, whether it was the light on the end of a wand or a handheld lamp that would glow.”
Smith’s career began to develop from this point onwards, working on feature films and commercials, establishing his name in the field, working hard as an electrician, and progressing onto the role of a best boy, which is second in command of the lighting and electrical department.
“I worked on a Bollywood film called London Dreams as a gaffer, and that had the most amazing practical lighting elements on it. It was a big, colourful film that we rigged coloured festoon lights around London for big dance scenes and created environments for the bar and club scenes; it was a big job, but I had a great practicals crew working for me.
“The practical lights on films started off, for example on Harry Potter, as quite raw and ready but nowadays it’s turned into roughly 50% of the set, which fill with practical fixtures that develop into these beautiful production designs. Much like you would now if you were doing any building design, we design our sets with architectural lighting to the same high standards, and we want them to look fantastically beautiful and detailed.”
Smith then went on to meet Fraser Taggert, a cameraman, or as they’re known in the film industry a cinematographer or director of photography, and who are essentially the boss of the gaffer. “We did our first film together, a second unit, which does all the action sequences, called Your Highness in Ireland about 10 years ago, and it really took off from there. I’ve since worked with Fraser on other features including XXX.
“It’s taken me about 25 years to work on these huge Hollywood features. I’ve got a hell of a lot of experience and knowledge over the longevity of my career, which puts me in a good position to now run these huge features where we have up to 100 electricians working at any one time.”
What became evident when talking with Smith is that a lot of the “practical” lighting fixtures are created from scratch for set. The gaffer has a close working relationship with the set decorators, cinematographers, and directors of film productions, and together they work on bringing the story’s vision to life. As Smith describes it, it’s like “painting a picture with light”. Gaffers play a huge role in the creative interpretations, bringing physical solutions to the visions for the story. And with that, they design and build lighting fixtures in workshops to fit the story’s brief alongside purchased or rented decorative fixtures.
Smith has Practicals Head of Department Joe Took on his team, or as they are known in the US, a Fixtures Supervisor. Took looks after all the practical lighting fixtures and prop fixtures and set decoration pieces that are seen on screen in a movie. Depending on what has been discussed between Smith and the production’s set decorator, production designer, cinematographer and director will depend on the look, style, and concept for how the lighting fixtures are going to look on set or on location. Took will utilise the production sketches or discussion notes and gather all the lights that have been brought in by the set teams and convert them all to LED with wireless controls. These will then be installed on set ready for the lighting team to go in and organise the pre-lighting for filming.
“It’s all discussed early on, and they’re designed fully conceptual. Then we can measure up and see how many LEDs or type of practicals are going in. Sometimes we still use some of the older tungsten lighting fixtures, it all depends on the period of the film,” he explains. There’s a huge variety of creations Smith and his teams work on using LEDs, but sometimes the old options are still best. “We can create any look with LEDs, but sometimes you want that old tungsten filament lamp or candle flicker. It could also be a huge pendant over a table, or a thousand lights in a submarine that all need to come to life with gauges and dials. Or it could be the most beautiful architectural lighting in a building.
“It’s a very wide range but the practicals cover all lights that are seen in shot as opposed to our bigger lights that are out the shot, which we use for added filler light.
“The practicals department has grown over the years from two or three people, whereas now I’ve got 10 guys working for me full-time.”
A recent example that Smith and his team worked on was the decorative lamps for Mission Impossible VII: Dead Reckoning Part 1. “We had over 100 hanging lanterns arrive as just glass boxes that we had to fit with LEDs and wireless controls. Our practicals team also recreated 30 exact copies of Venetian streetlights, with the help of the props team, that we had moulded. This allowed us to move them anywhere around the Venetian alleyways that were a bit dark or create our own alleys.”
The lighting team will work with a head programmer on a production who will aid in setting up wireless transmitters and receivers that they can remotely programme from their lighting desks. The majority are set up with batteries, but the set is also always hard-wired to power supplies, which allows for the lighting controls and dimmer circuits to be controlled back to the light desk and then on an iPad.
“It’s a real team effort on a big film. It’s the same on a commercial or on a short pop-promo, just a smaller scale.”
When it comes to balancing the decorative lighting fixtures (practicals) with the larger set lights and diffuser boxes, the team do this is all done manually rather than in post-production.
“We take colour temperature readings and balance our lights to match the practicals, but a lot of the time the set and actors can be lit with the practicals and enhanced with some soft light,” Smith explains. “If you’ve got big windows on a set and you’re trying to create a daylight interior, then we’d use bigger lamps as sunlight combined with some big soft lights just to push light in, otherwise the effect is too contrasty. It all depends on the vision of the director and the cinematographer, the emotional content in that scene, and how we want to portray it with the lights. It’s almost like painting a picture in my opinion. You hear it said sometimes, but the more you think about it, it really is. You’ve got the story and with that there’s got to come pictures, and it’s how we paint that picture using our lights for a different variety of looks or feel, and the tone of the story. We could be depicting a party, rave vibes, or the total opposite with calming dappled light through trees or a dark room that’s just candlelit. It all revolves around the lighting. Without that, it’s just a radio programme, isn’t it?
“99% of the time, gaffers get creative input with the directors and cinematographers on the bigger productions. Sometimes you work with those that want to do it their way, but that’s quite rare these days. They might just give you some guidelines of the style and the look, and then you’ve really got to dig deep into your knowledge base and figure out not only how to do that creatively speaking, but also logistically with certain restrictions such as weight, height, or budget. You also need to consider the availability of certain types of lights at any one time, because when it’s busy, you can’t always get your first choice of your complete list of lights, so sometimes you have to think outside the box.
“There’s a lot of gaffers and ring gaffers that own a certain number of lights and bits of equipment, but the bulk of the lights will be hired from lighting rental houses. Practicals are normally purchased, whereas the rest of the set lights are normally rigged as more of a temporary installation. We also hire all the various distribution lighting control. We also have a separate department that works under us to scaffold riggers, who construct the scaffolding and truss and motors for the lights to hang on.”
At the end of a production, the teams are conscious to make sure the practicals aren’t wasted. The wireless control elements are removed, and the fixtures are sent to a props warehouse. Anything hired is returned and any cables will be reused where possible on other productions.
Looking at new technological developments in film lighting, Smith notes the vast improvements in LED capabilities. “It’s come on leaps and bounds, going from just bicolour to six channel, six colour LED. Also, the ways of controlling it and the size, plus we can get beautiful, almost laser-like COB LED now that has seamless joins and a beautiful little pocket of diffusion that it sits in. We’re using that for a lot of detailed work now. You can also get LED pads and panels; you can get LED arrays printed that fit into certain lights that we’re now 3D printing our own LED bases and PCBs with our own LEDs that we’re fitting into all our own lighting fixtures. Having 3D printers is a big step in the right direction.
“We manufacture a lot of our own circuitry and code for certain hand props and practicals. It’s not only having the right kit, but some fabulous people around us that can do those jobs.
“We just made all our own underwater lights for a scene on Mission Impossible VIII: Dead Reckoning Part 2. We created over 1000 lights to go into different sections of a submarine with boards that house LED strips. We’ve had a resin tested over the last six months that is clear and creates a lovely watertight containment for the LEDs. It makes it pretty much non buoyant, so it doesn’t put any stress on the weight of the set that’s going under water. We’ve got our own water sensors, heat sensors, cameras, ingress for moisture, all within our battery boxes that we can monitor on a computer in our workstation. It’s a whole world of creativity.”
During the Covid-19 global pandemic, the film and TV industry ground to a holt with the uncertainty of how productions could continue through all the restrictions. But the strong sense of community and team bonds that were fostered among the lighting crews over the decades led Smith and some fellow gaffers to establish the International Cinema Lighting Society. Smith, co-founded the society with gaffers Michael Bauman and Rafael Sanchez with a few informal zoom conversations on a Saturday night with a group of international gaffers to discuss various Covid protocols around the world to find out who was doing what, and which productions were shutting down. “It was very, very informative,” he explains. “I, Mike, and Raffi said ‘Look, there’s something here. We don’t have a society for lighting, gaffers, or programmers.’ We decided to develop it officially and that’s when Bea Patton got involved. She headed up the formalisation of the society with our help and a lot of amazing members, who became the founding members forming committees. We set up a membership committee, a corporate membership committee for manufacturers, and an accountant committee.
“It’s mainly just gaffers, programmers, and rigging gaffers and practicals heads of departments that have access to the full membership category. Then we have an associate membership for aspiring gaffers or programmers, best boys, and anyone that’s interested in the industry like colour scientists, projectionists. Then we have an observer membership, which is for the lighting technicians and people that are just starting their careers in the industry. The reason we can’t have lighting technicians in straightaway as full members is because we wanted to keep a certain pedigree of the best at the top that can inspire, educate, and mentor the younger ones coming through. And unfortunately, if we included light technicians as full members as well, there’d just be too many applicants and we wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“The society is run entirely by volunteers. Bea left us a year after setting up and structuring, and we’ve now got our Executive Director Ediola Pashollari who is our first fully paid member and is responsible for setting us up with our nonprofit status in the US.
“Now we’re having a huge website re-design and are sponsored by roughly 30 manufacturers, and we’re up to about 600 members across 40 countries around the world.”
Fundamentally, the aim of the society is to provide a community and platform for sharing knowledge and expertise among fellow colleagues in the industry. Much like many roles within the freelance television and film industries, sharing of information and skills is uncommon, in Smith’s opinion. “It was kind of a closed shop and people were worried about losing out on work if they shared too much of their expertise. Through ICLS, we flipped that attitude on its side, and everyone is sharing information not just about safety but about new technology and new protocols and certain rigs, etc. We have zooms every week with presentations from individuals who have worked on certain movies as well as from manufacturers that are trying to promote their new lighting products. What’s more fabulous for us is manufacturers coming to us with their prototypes rather than us going to shows. They’re coming direct to the end-users who will be hiring their lights and getting their expert advice before they even put money into manufacturing something that might not be suitable.
“We also run events and attend lighting events or expos and have live ICLS gatherings to promote and mix and generally be a community and meet people face to face. We don’t talk about people’s individual rates or negotiate on rates as we’re not a union. We’re just a society of happy and very proud individuals that needed to become more of a team, which we have achieved.”
The society also utilises Discord with 120 channels covering various topics from products to rigging techniques and day-to-day insights.
Looking ahead, ICLS wants to establish educational and mentorship classes, whether online or face-to-face events. The team wants to grow its global reach and diverse membership and is looking at setting up individual regional meetings to avoid time zone clashes, allowing conversations to be more accessible for all.
“We want to spread the word of lighting safely but informatively and build some momentum behind the society, which then gives us the money to invest into the educational channels and mentorship schemes. It’s very tricky because first and foremost, it’s electricity and there’s different codes of conduct globally. We must be mindful of how we educate in the UK as that won’t be correct for the US, which in turn won’t be right for India or Asia. But the principles of lighting remain the same and can be taught. Everyone in the society sharing their knowledge is really helping to get the different techniques and technologies out there to those that might not have had the conduits to it.”
Smith concludes with parting advice for those wanting to get into the industry or begin a career as a gaffer. “We need to look at this sensibly,” he says. “I always tell anyone that wants to get into the industry to go get an electrical qualification first. It’s important because we’re working with electricity first and foremost, and you need to have the ability to work with it safely, install a distribution system, maintain, and not overload a distribution system, and have the general knowledge of electrical safety, installing, testing, and certifying electrical installation. I wouldn’t have anyone on my practicals team that wasn’t a fully qualified electrician.
“We have trainees who do an electrical qualification while working with us for up to three years. Those that are coming out of film schools need to take a step back and get a full electrical qualification first.
“Then it’s time to do the exciting bit and learn about the lighting because you’ll have built great technical knowledge, but you’ll also have much more respect within the industry because we know you’re safe and you’re going to work safely with others.”
He also believes that it’s all down to building a strong network. “Reach out to as many individual gaffers as you can find. There’s plenty on Instagram, reach out to studio productions like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple, which have entry routes and apprenticeships with colleges that allow you to work alongside a team as a trainee.
“Alternatively, you can go into a lighting rental house as I did, and work with them and learn the equipment. You really must fight for it and get your name out.”
www.iclsociety.com
Light Pollution within our Workspaces by Sarah Dodsworth
When we look at lighting in the UK, especially compared to other European countries, it’s hard not to think we have an obsession with over-lighting. From the proliferation of motorway and streetlights to the chaotic myriad of illuminated building signs, we seem to believe more is more at every stage. Then, when we get inside buildings, the mania reaches a whole other level.
There’s obviously a wider discussion to be had here about light pollution, human health and the impact of over-lighting on wildlife and the environment, especially seeing how much wildlife returned to our built environments during lockdown. Some areas of the UK are notably starting to introduce measures right now to protect the environment through a dark skies policy. From the point of view of an interior designer, however, I’d like to focus on how we use light in building interiors. The workplace is especially moot as a subject area, given hospitality offers a much cleaner canvas in terms of freedom to design around the creation of mood and ambience.
My greatest frustration, as a specialist in the workplace arena, is how hard it is to influence schemes when there’s already a huge trail of custody in place before we even get to the briefing stage. What we’re always looking to achieve overall is a unique, tailored and special office environment that expresses the precise culture of a particular client or business. When it comes to lighting, we seek to layer schemes with fittings of differing visual styles and types that address all planes of an interior space – the ceilings, walls, floor and surfaces. Our focus is on lighting the actual workspace rather than the whole space, not only as a practical response to how and where light is needed, but also to embody a sustainable approach. Excess is simply not justifiable at any level!
As our understanding of people at work evolves, we also now look to deliver schemes that support agility, work missions, personality types and neurodiversity. All of which takes us in the same direction – towards specific designs offering specific solutions to specific challenges. Social and high energy spaces need to be punchier in terms of illumination levels, for example, while quiet, focussed areas should be more subdued, with neat integrated details and more often than not a task lamp the user has the choice to use - or not. It all sounds rather simple, doesn’t it? And yet we are still at the mercy of so many factors that limit our ability and imaginations.
What lies in our path? First, the fact that building technical lighting design solutions in Cat A projects remain heavily influenced by engineers who design solutions that conform to building regulation standards and CIBSE guidance. Not their fault, of course. These are the standards developers and clients are advised to adhere to - and statutory ways always seem to win out. We acknowledge totally that there are a huge amount of technical considerations to resolve, but often the end result is over lighting, with too many fittings in a strictly regimented format, leading to a stark, flat and generally uninspiring interior. Not only is this uninviting, but it can create an overwhelming experience, visually and sensorially. As a person who suffers from migraine auras, this is particularly pertinently-felt.
If building regulations clip the wings of possibility, ceiling heights are the compounding frustration. When we start on a scheme in a new-build environment, it’s incredibly difficult – not to mention very off-message commercially and sustainably - to suggest a complete strip-out of perfectly good, recently-installed CAT A interior infrastructure, which unfortunately often includes built-in ceilings.
Where is the space for change? The biggest change needs to come in the domain of building regulations, so this is our call-out first of all for amendments in favour of a clearer understanding of progressive, creative solutions that reflect contemporary thinking around wellbeing, sustainability, ways of working and creative excellence.
Secondly, we need more comprehension and willingness to experiment on the part of developers. The good news is we are beginning to see just that, especially in London, where, in spite of my Northern pride, I have to admit the waves of change often begin! Of course, developers need to show potential Cat B clients something a little more literal and indicative than a shell and core environment sometimes, just as a show flat sells empty residential apartments. If a developer only fits out one or two floorplates of a larger building, however, they can still achieve this, while at the same time creating a freer creative canvas for interior – and lighting – designers to work their magic and fulfil a huge variety of micro interior workspace briefs.
A clearer vision of how natural and artificial lighting can work together in an optimal way can be seen by taking a trip elsewhere in Europe – particularly to Scandinavia. Having viewed a number of excellent schemes there recently, most particularly in Copenhagen, I was struck by the subtlety and balance of workplace lighting designs, with 50% of light outputs shining upwards to bounce off the ceiling plane, allowing the required amounts of light across the workplace to be implemented in a much more diffuse way. When a pendant is introduced to define a breakaway setting - or an attractive linear fitting suspended a little lower over a coffee island unit - the impact is really effective, defining the space as somewhere a little different and not competing with an already-over lit and visually-fussy space.
We love nothing more than working with amazing decorative lighting designers to respond to culture, function and mood - and being able to use portable task lighting to individualise space even further in a move away from generic and mass effects too. The only problem when task lighting is too good, however? People steal them! Darn - there’s always something, isn’t there?
Vogue Hotel, Canada
Montreal-based Sid Lee Architecture was mandated to redesign the common spaces of Montreal’s five-star Vogue Hotel, located in the heart of Golden Square Mile, following its mid-pandemic acquisition by Artifact Group. The renovation of the hotel’s lobby, lounge and restaurant areas brings a brand-new hospitality experience for Downtown Montreal.
Speaking with darc about the project are Martin Leblanc and Jean Pelland, both Architects and Principal Partners at the architectural firm. “Despite the context, the new owners believed in the attractiveness of our beautiful city and wanted to transform the institution to offer Montreal a novel experience that is inspired by their cultural heritage, yet remains connected to its neighbourhood, in the heart of the Golden Square Mile,” says Pelland of their initial involvement in the project. “We first got involved during fall of 2021 and delivered the project during spring of 2023.”
The new aesthetic for the hotel’s spaces is inspired by the grand hotel cultures of Asia and the Middle East. To achieve this, the design team opened up the ground floor areas, which are constructed along a classic colonnade running the length of the hotel. The food and beverage spaces are holistically integrated into the open space, complemented by high ceilings evoking a grand hall atmosphere. Lemay Michaud redesigned a floor-to-ceiling glass façade that floods the space with natural light from the street. There are a number of Turkish design elements integrated as a nod to the hotel’s new owners and also linking in the East-meets-West aesthetic. "To strengthen the ties between the hotel and its neighbourhood, we've relied on a seamless connection between the interior and the exterior. Strategically placing the F&B offering along the glass façade increases opportunities for people to mingle. A user-centric approach, paired with the integration of work by local artists, allowed us to create a unique experience that is as attractive to Montrealers as it is to tourists," explains Leblanc.
Lighting played a key role in the hotel, from the washes of natural light to the statement decorative fixtures. Pelland elaborates: “We crafted the interiors with light as our medium. By softening hard corners and embracing endless free flowing lines, light brushes over the textured surfaces like oil paint on raw canvas. By day, this effect lifts the ceiling with a distinct airiness while at night, warm light emphasises the space's curved sensuality. In this perspective, walls also become objects of light. Whether it be from its form or from the light that it diffuses, lighting allows us to craft ambiances that evolve throughout the day. The lighting programme is part of the initial concept for every interior project on which we work. To create an ambiance, we believe lighting is as important as finishes.
“Dynamic light fixtures highlight the textures and craftsmanship woven into the hotel’s plush interiors, with custom tubular wall sconces designed by Sid Lee Architecture illuminating every corner and curve of the space. The lounge area also features two sculptural light installations from local studio Lambert & Fils' Sainte collection that have been designed to a sizeable scale in collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture. These installations are visible from the street; a local reference that further connects the establishment to its neighbourhood.”
Leblanc continues: “The tubular chrome sconces are found throughout the hotel’s public spaces to link the different areas together. These spaces were designed holistically to offer guests a seamless journey through the ground floor.”
The Sainte collection by Lambert & Fils was originally created in collaboration with Canadian designer Rachel Bussin. The collection reimagines the archetypal rectangle in coloured glass, creating a beautiful floating sculpture suspended by nylon ribbon. The brand describes them as a “collection about the forces that anchor us—a suspension light in dialogue with gravity.”
In each variation of the Sainte design, an aluminium box sits inside transparent glass, casting light up or down depending on the desired mood. The form can suspend from any angle and height, and in multiples.
Speaking of how the decorative lighting works alongside the architectural fixtures, Pelland says: “They both work together to highlight the texture and colour of the meticulously selected materiality and the curls and curves found throughout the public spaces.
“We are used to working with creative collaborators and artists, but the lighting design of the Vogue Hotel was done in-house. That said, we did collaborate with Lambert & Fils Studio, which we also have done for several other projects. Namely, the Sid Lee Biosquare and Hiatus at Place Ville Marie. Their technical expertise and extensive lighting knowledge are extremely beneficial when it comes to custom designing decorative pieces for a project. Moreover, working with a local studio is a great way to keep an establishment linked to its community and create an experience that is as interesting for locals as it is for tourists.”
The outcome of the project was deemed a successful one, despite some of the challenges the team had to face during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic created breaks in supply chains which made it difficult to source materials, so we had to come up with creative solutions to find finishes that matched our vision and the client’s desires,” says Leblanc.
“The final design is strikingly close to the initial vision. Looking at the renderings and photographs side by side, we are quite proud to have delivered this level of quality with a strong attention to detail despite the pandemic-related challenges we have encountered in the process.”
Pelland adds: “Sid Lee Architecture works at various scales, from urban design to architecture to interior design but always with a user-centric approach. The Vogue Hotel is no exception. That said, the renewed establishment brings Montreal a novel luxury hospitality experience, one that is inspired by the grand hotel cultures of Asia and the Middle East as a nod to the heritage of the new owners.”
www.sidleearchitecture.com
Kaija Wuollet joins Reddymade as Principle
(USA) - Reddymade has announced that Kaija Wuollet has joins New York-based design studio as Principle.
Wuoletts’s role will include managing design work and clients, fostering company culture and mentorship, and continuing to build the strategic business vision.
As the former Director of City Building at WXY architecture, Wuollets’s client portfolio includes Amtrak, Empire State Development, City of Dallas, New York City Health and Hospitals, New York Power Authority NYPA, and NYC’s Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environment.
Suchi Reddy, Founding Principal of Reddymade comments: “I’m delighted to welcome Kaija to the team. Her exemplary strategic vision and experience with community building will amplify the Reddymade ethos of - form follows feeling.”
Wuollet adds: "At the core, Suchi and I are both makers and thinkers. From individual objects to large environments and unique experiences, we're driven by a vision to cultivate spaces that drive human engagement, potential, and wellbeing. As a longstanding admirer of Reddymade, it's invigorating to be joining the firm during such a pivotal chapter."
Lee Broom presents newly expanded showroom and lighting editions for LDF
(UK) - Lee Broom launches new lighting collections in its recently expanded showroom in Shoreditch during London Design Festival 2023.
The showroom extension marks a further expansion of the brand, which first opened on Rivington Street in 2010, before taking over the whole store frontage 16 years after the company was founded.
The interior has been redesigned to display a wide selection of Lee Broom furniture, lighting, and accessories, in celebration of the most iconic designs in the last 16 years including Lens Flair, Orion, and the Hanging Hoop chair.
Alongside the new pieces, Broom’s acclaimed collection, Divine Inspiration, is prominently displayed within the showroom, with Pantheum now exhibited in the showroom’s extended shopfront.
The limited-edition Requiem Hoop and Globe lights, designed in editions of 15 to celebrate the brand’s 15thanniversary, are also hung within the space, as well as a curated display from the collection including Hail and Vesper, and new editions including Altar wall lights and Chant surface lights.
Lee Broom says: “I opened my Shoreditch showroom in 2010, three years after I founded Lee Broom, and so the connection between the brand and this iconic building on Rivington Street is a special one, especially given Electra House’s history as an electro plating factory for designer furniture including Conran back in the day. We look forward to this next stage of our growth with this esteemed building, and it has been great to celebrate another edition of London Design Festival within the space.”
www.leebroom.com
10 year anniversary by Akari-Lisa & Motoko Ishii, Maison&Objet fair
https://youtu.be/mvE9450aqPI?si=Ba4aPENiPPbQ-PmP
This year's show followed the theme 'Enjoy!' that drew an overall mindset of enthusiasm and excitement among the professional community of the design, home decor and lifestyle industries.
Exhibitors and the numerous programmes (xx) were curated by Maison&Objet to create unique experiences and inspire visitors that have led buyers and brands to develop new business trends, thereby supporting the market towards the end of 2023.
As a part of Maison&Objet, the Lighting Trend exhibition by famous Franco-Japanese lighting designers Akari-Lisa Ishii and Motoko Ishii celebrates its 10th anniversary. Follow the video to explore the state-of-the-art artistic installations and its reinventions.
Bubbles - Brand Van Egmond
Bubbles, designed by William Brand, is reminiscent of the child-like delight of blowing bubbles and being mesmerised by the free forming colours and shapes. The hanging lamp is available in five different finishes including: black matt, nickel, brass burnished, gold satin and bronze patina. All creations have a unique distinctness due to its hand-made manufacturing process like the colourful patina, grinding structure and glass characteristics.
LiGHT23 Introduces Exclusive Space for Decorative Lighting
LiGHT23 Expo will extend its exhibitor space with a new exclusive area for decorative brands called ‘darc space’.
In collaboration with darc magazine, darc space is to provide a one-stop shop for designers and specifiers looking for stunning light pieces. Some of the brand’s that have confirmed their participation include Quasar, Lodes, Tyson Lighting, Artemide and Zico Lighting to name just a few.
The inaugural expo in 2022 was a huge success with more than 3,500 visitors attending including interior designer, architects, and lighting designers and more than 100 high-end lighting brands exhibiting. LiGHT returns to London from 21-22 November with a bigger exhibition alongside new and exclusive features for visitors.
New for 2023 is the Associations Lounge, which will be the shared home of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) and the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) over the two-day period.
Designed and furnished by leading Furniture brand Muuto, the two associations will host existing and potential members in the space, while running various social activities. On the opening day, the IALD will be offering a late-night drink offering, while the second day will be taken over by BIID with a LiGHT Lunch following a panel discussion as a part of [d]arc thoughts programme.
Former President of BIID, Susie Rumbold, moderate the panel discussion made up of leading BIID Interior designers Stephen Dick, Stephanie Dias, and Debbie Power on ‘Designing for Small and Large Spaces’. Taking place on 22 November, the talk offers different perspectives on lighting spaces from stadiums to 5-star hotels to the homes from around the world.
The rest of the programme, which has been carefully curated by Darc’s editorial team, will include talks specific for the decorative lighting realm such as ‘Designing for a Global Brand’, ‘In Conversation with Eden, New Bailey’ with Darc Editor Sarah Cullen, as well as a discussion on ‘Restaurant and Bar Design’ with Managing Editor of Darc, Helen Ankers. All talks will run across the two-day period and are free for visitors to attend.
For further details and registration go to www.lightexpo.com.
Barbara Corti announced as the new Chief Creative Officer of Flos
(Italy) – Barbara Corti has been announced as the new Chief Creative Officer of Flos. As CCO, she will set the creative strategy for the development of product lines in every division, as well as content creation strategies through all the brand’s online and offline channels.
Corti, who has been global Chief Marketing Officer at Flos since 2017, will move to her new role as of October 2023 and will be the first to take this position at Flos. CEO Roberta Silva introduced the role as a way of internalising a strategic function while enhancing the talent of a leader.
After graduating with a degree in architecture, Corti worked for 10 years as Creative Director in communication agencies and for seven years in the same role at Condé Nast Italia. Corti has also played an active role in international human rights projects, addressing the issue of Human Rights Design in developing countries.
As CCO, Corti will lead the creative and design team, which will include two important areas: product design and content design. The product design division, in close collaboration with the research & development team of all collections – decorative, architectural, outdoor, and bespoke – will guarantee the central role of designers, who will have access to an array of talent and skills for future projects.
The appointment of Corti’s new role coincides with the end of Flos’s collaboration with Fabio Calvi and Paolo Brambilla in their role as Flos’s Design Curators, which was created specifically for the Milanese duo.
Silva comments: “In 2019 we created the role of Design Curator, starting a very fruitful collaboration with Fabio Calvi and Paolo Brambilla. Now we are ready to take the next step. The time has come to internalise this role, which is fundamental for the success of Flos, through the creation of a new ‘Creative and Design Team’. Barbara Corti will guide this team, becoming Chief Creative Officer.”
Corti adds: “I am very thankful for this splendid opportunity and extremely motivated, not only to continue to strengthen the recognised brand identity of Flos, but also to deeply nourish the inclination to dare and the capacity to explore new territory, which is at the heart of our DNA. My objective to further strengthen the natural playground that Flos represents for the creativity of our designers, are the most important thing.”
Workspace Design Show returns for 2024
(UK) - Workspace Design Show, the trade show that brings together the UK workplace design community, returns to London’s Business Design Centre for its third UK edition from 27-28 February 2024.
At the 2023 event, visitor number increased by an impressive 75% year on year with exhibitors from over 20 countries showcasing innovative and transformational workplace interiors products. Due to this success, 75% of stand space is already booked for 2024.
The organisers of the Workspace Design Show have unveiled exciting plans for the upcoming February event. This year, the show will revolve around the theme of Bloom: Exploring the thriving ecosystem of work life. One of the standout features will undoubtedly be the raft of collaborations with renowned architects’ practices, promising an unforgettable experience for attendees.
Workspace Design Show allows an opportunity for architects, designers, occupiers, developers, consultants, coworking companies and fit-out companies to explore the latest industry trends, see the latest products as well as find inspiration in the talks programmes.
Gurvinder Khurana, Director of M Moser Associates said: “I would highly recommend attending the show next year, it is a brilliant chance to learn and to meet many people through a shared interest in the design sector.”
Natalie Smith, Principal of Planning and Strategies for Perkins and Will added, “Highly recommend - a show that brings the entire industry together; a great place to network.”
The 40 under 40 Awards nominations open today
(UK) - The 40 under 40, an annual competition where young and talented individuals in lighting in architecture are recognised for their achievements, has now launched the submission for nominations.
The submission deadline will be closing 17 November, and to be eligible for participation nominees must be under the age of 40 on 15 September 2023. Nominations must also be a part of lighting in architecture in some capacity whether it be as a lighting designer, technician, engineer, artist, or architect.
Winners will be announced in January 2024 at Light Building Middle East in Dubai.
To find out more on how to enter go to www.40under40.com.
New Lighting Collection from Astro
Astro Lighting has recently launched a new collection using contemporary lighting concepts for hospitality, residential and commercial spaces.
The collection showcases enduring materials such as translucent porcelain and highlights functional and flexible applications, including portable and plug-in options. In addition, Astro now offer ‘Made to Order’ to provide for flexibility and choice for customers.
The new collection offers two new ranges of complete floor, table, wall and wall-mounted reading lights for cohesive lighting schemes. The Venn range brings warm ambient lighting and focused task lighting, ideal for hospitality guest rooms. All Venn lights are inspired by minimalist architecture.
The second rage, Leda, distinctive cylindrical shade is available separately in a range of ‘Made to Order ‘modern finishes. The fixture uses replaceable, long-lasting GU10 lamps, enabling full flexibility in the choice of light colour and brightness. Leda’s lamp head features an innovative, heat-dispersing design which maximises the lifespan of the lamp.
To see the complete collection go to www.astrolighting.com
