top of page
PAST AND PRESENT CLIENTS
PAST AND PRESENT CLIENTS
JOURNAL
Darc Sessions 2024 Troia Portugal Strom Lighting Designers

[d]arc sessions event, Portugal 

MAY 2024

 

Earlier this month, Anna travelled to Portugal to attend [d]arc sessions on the Tróia peninsula, just southeast of Lisbon and Setúbal.

 

The event, from 14-16 May, brought together a select group of lighting specifiers (including us) and lighting suppliers for speed-dating-style one-on-ones, panel discussions, talks and social get-togethers. The 20-minute one-on-ones (better than they sound!) took place in a single space, allowing us to see lots of different products side-by-side, who was developing what, and the latest trends.

 

The atmosphere had a more intimate feel compared to the likes of Light+Build, Frankfurt, or LiGHT, London. While these big events have their place, it was refreshing to explore products and build relationships (new and old) in a more personal and tailored environment.

 

Photography by Gavriil Papadiotis. 

Love Supreme Projects Golborne Road

New Project with Ab Rogers Design

FEBRUARY 2024

 

We’re thrilled to be designing the lighting scheme for the much-loved yoga studio, Love Supreme Projects, on Golborne Road in west London, as it goes through a renovation project headed up by Ab Rogers Design.

 

As a former church, the space is an architectural delight, so design interventions will be mindful of maintaining the integrity of the building. Control of the lighting will be key, as well as creating an intimate setting in the larger spaces. We can’t wait to see the transformation of this well-known location into the studio’s permanent home.

Photography Love Supreme Projects.

Emilio Hernandez Speaker Light and Intelligent Building Dubai 2024

Keynote Speaker at Light + Intelligent Building, Dubai

JANUARY 2024

 

We headed off to sunnier climes this month to attend THINKLIGHT, MENA’s leading conference on lighting design and technology that forms part of the Light + Intelligent Building Conference in Dubai. As a founding member of the GreenLight Alliance (GLA), Emilio took to the stage as a keynote speaker and hosted a panel discussion (with a great list of industry leaders) on ‘Enlightened Futures: Circularity’, which looked at sustainability and circularity in lighting design.  

 

Building a community like the GLA still benefits massively from 'in-person' meetings. We were naturally reluctant to make the trip, for obvious reasons, but felt it was a worthwhile investment to grow the sustainable lighting community in the Middle East. 

Private Residence Essex Fieldwork Architects

Planning Approved, Suncourt Essex 

DECEMBER 2023

 

It’s great to hear that planning has been granted for this beautiful rural home on the Essex coastline. We look forward to working on this sustainable project alongside Fieldwork Architects and, as part of the first stage, developing a lighting scheme that works harmoniously with the contemporary interiors. For more on this project, head to Fieldwork Architects’ website here.

Render by Fieldwork Architects

Rebel Light Event Stockholm

‘We Who Rebel for Light’ Event, Stockholm

DECEMBER 2023

On Friday 8 December, Rebel Light hosted a day of inspiring talks and seminars discussing everything from sustainability and light art to new innovations and products. Fresh from an overnight train journey from Umeå, we attended the event and were honoured to moderate a debate on ‘The status of circularity in lighting’, with a panel including: Dave Hollingsbee (Stoane Lighting), Rob van Brunschot (Signify), Rickard Lundell (Rebel Light) and Andrew Kilborn (Orluna).
 

Thanks to Rebel Light (and the sponsors) for organising a great get-together and continuing to shout about circularity in the lighting industry.

Private Office London Ab Rogers Design

Private Office, St James's Square, London   

JUNE 2023

In collaboration with Ab Rogers Design, we’re excited to work on a private office in the heart of St James’s. We’ve been tasked with creating the perfect lighting conditions for a prestigious office environment. The deep-plan space is flooded with daylight from one side, so the challenge is ensuring that as day transitions to night, the space feels visually interesting with sufficient light levels.

Render by Ab Rogers Design. 

BIG Architects Office

CPD at BIG Architects, Copenhagen

MAY 2023

 

We had a great visit to BIG architect’s headquarters in Copenhagen this month with Louis Poulsen to talk about sustainability and lighting procurement/specifications. The renowned Danish practice values the pooling of knowledge from different fields to inform their designs, and we had a really engaging discussion and answered some excellent questions about effective strategies to help reduce waste and the carbon footprint of the lighting that the practice specifies. 

 

If this type of CPD seminar sounds of interest and you’d like to know more, get in touch here.

Photography BIG Architects. 

Ice Hotel Construction Sweden

A trip to the IceHotel – Lighting Journal  

MAR 2023

Last year, we were invited to the IceHotel in Northern Sweden for a ‘pre-opening’ site visit to get an insight into how to design for such a unique space. The venue was cold, but the hospitality was definitely warm and welcoming. It was a real privilege to understand more about this fascinating annual build, which takes place alongside the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi.

 

We wrote about our behind-the-scenes tour of the site in Lighting Journal. Some pressing questions were put to the hotel’s lighting designer, John Petterson, and we met up with artists in the midst of creating magic out of an icy blank canvas.

 

If you are as intrigued as we are by the must-visit hotel, have a read of our article here.

Huntingdon Estate Model Layout Morris and Company

New Project with Morris+Company  

DECEMBER 2022

 

We’re very happy to share that we’ll be working with Morris+Company on the Huntingdon Estate project in Shoreditch for Blue Coast Capital. For the highly anticipated mixed-use workspace opposite Shoreditch High Street Station, we’ve been asked to design lighting schemes for the public areas, including the ground floor reception, two entrances, the lift lobby, as well as the roof terraces on floors seven and nine.

 

More details about the project can be found here.

Photography Morris+Company.

Superloos Selfridges London Lighting FDArchitecture
Superloos Selfridges London Lighting FDArchitecture

Superloos at Selfridges  

NOVEMBER 2022

 

Across the London department store, 14 new ‘superloos’ have been introduced for staff and customers that are gender-neutral, single-occupancy and self-contained. The blueprint for the washrooms was developed by FDArchitecture to provide private, comfortable, flexible and inclusive spaces – and, of course, we were very pleased to help with the lighting!

The simple yet stylish loos in Selfridges are complemented by strategically placed lighting details that wash vertical surfaces and provide flattering and practical illumination levels.

Photography FDArchitecture.

Darc Awards 2021

Darc Awards 2021 Judging Panel

FEBRUARY 2022

 

We were delighted to have been asked to join the panel of judges for the 2021 [d]arc awards, despite the somewhat daunting volume of quality entries. There are some exceptional projects, but we'll keep shtum until the results are out! 

Beach House Exterior Jersey Fieldwork Architects

Beach House, Jersey 

NOVEMBER 2021

The earthy tones and natural materials of this enviable beach house make it a joy to work on alongside Fieldwork Architects. Appointed as the lighting designers, we’re creating a scheme that draws inspiration from Luis Barragan’s use of shadow and light and is deliberately minimal in design. For more on the private residence head here.

Render by Fieldwork Architects

Emilio Hernandez and Anna Clara Sandgren

Observations from a New Region

AUGUST 2021

We have been bustling away in the north of Sweden for about six months, and after some record-breaking snow during winter, we’re through mid-summer and into days of perpetual daylight. So here are a few, perhaps obvious, observations from our initial months in a new region (new to Emilio that is, not Anna!).

Photography by Johan Jansson. 

The Curious Creatives Podcast

Creative Design Podcast 

NOVEMBER 2021

 

In this episode of The Curious Creatives podcast, Daniel Knox, head of product design at Wrexham University and Steve Jarvis, also from Wrexham University, sat down with Emilio to talk about his journey from being a product design student to co-founding a lighting design practice. The conversation covers starting a business (in the pandemic!) and what that involves (good planning), sustainability in the lighting industry and setting up the GreenLight Alliance (a circular design initiative), plus much more.

 

If you’d like to listen to the conversation, click here.

Fritidshus Exterior Umeå Varg Arkitekter

Sustainable Summer House, Sweden 

JUNE 2021
Using innovative materials and solutions that have minimal environmental impact was the aim in building this shore-side dream home for clients Anja Pärson and Filippa Rådin (who are household names here in Sweden). We were excited to be part of the design team and developed a lighting scheme in line with the ethos of the build. Anja and Filippa documented the sustainable project from start to finish on their YouTube channel – you can follow their journey here

Render by Varg Arkitekter 

WIL Awards Nominees Anna Clara Sandgren and Emilio Hernandez

We have been nominated! 

JUNE 2021

 

We're incredibly honoured (and humbled) to have been nominated for an 'Initiative Award' in
this year’s Women in Lighting (WIL) awards. Thank you to our fellow team members at the GreenLight Alliance for your efforts, too – we’re all in this together!


Studio House London Fieldwork Architects

Heritage House Renovation, Hampstead, London 

MAY 2021

 

Heritage renovation projects like this one in North London are fantastic to work on because they’re steeped in history. The lighting scheme we’ve created for this residence is therefore respectful and interventions have been kept as minimal as possible.

 

The focus is on decorative lighting and traditional artwork lighting, and discreet architectural light fixtures. The Californian and Japanese influence throughout the property and the quality of the interiors and materials remind us why we love what we do. For more on Fieldwork Architects’ amazing project head here.

Photography by Peter Landers.

WIL Global Gathering Anna Clara Sandgren and Emilio Hernandez

Global Gathering Event: A Talk about Circular Lighting  

MARCH 2021

 

We were thrilled to be invited to speak at the Women in Lighting (WIL) Global Gathering. This virtual event celebrates International Women’s Day and connects the lighting community from all corners of the globe. We’re grateful for the opportunity to raise the profile and objectives of the GreenLight Alliance – an initiative that we co-founded alongside like-minded people in the lighting industry to promote circular economy principles in lighting design.


If you missed the talk and would like to watch it, a recording is available here

bottom of page