A recent CSIL Report profiled around 100 top Architectural Offices and 100 Lighting Designers, mainly specialising in the lighting category. Each profile includes a short history of the practice, headquarters and branches, main characteristics, recent projects, size, lighting partners. Where relevant, projects samples and cooperational activities have been highlighted. According to CSIL, around 14-18% of the lighting business is regulated by ˈProjectsˈ in Europe, in the United States, Japan, and Asia Pacific. Itˈs even higher in China and in the emerging markets. The Project Lighting market is worth around USD14 billion in 2015 and will probably exceed USD 17 billion in 2020. The Project business has many drivers: among them the increasing importance of megacities, the globalization of the economies, LED innovation (may be OLED in the future), lighting controls. Talking about architectural companies, CSIL sample includes about 400 employees in the American companies, 85-90 in Europe and 120-130 in Asia. This average does not include a group of contracting projects also involved in the construction sectors with overall employment between 1000 and 3500 people. Average of CSIL sample is 20 lighting designers and partners per practice in Europe, 18 in the United States and 12 in Asia. 200 lighting manufacturers register contract sales valued around USD 8 billion. Lighting designers (around 1500 at a world level) and architectural companies (some hundreds) are key influencers in this market.
Arup, Independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists offering a broad range of professional services, is among the top players and one of the biggest firm in this field in Europe, with a team of over 90 lighting specialists. Its Lighting Design team has been awarded the ‘Lighting Design Practice of the Year’ in 2016.
Speirs+Major is a UK lighting design practice founded by Jonathan Speirs and Mark Major in 1993. Today, Speirs+Major employs 30 people drawn from disciplines like architecture, art, interior design, lighting, graphic design and theatre. They have conducted hundreds of successful lighting projects around the world, including One New Change, London; The Millennium Dome, London; Barajas International Airport, Madrid; the Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi; the Sackler Crossing and Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, London; Copenhagen Opera House and interiors of St. Paul Cathedral, London. They also developed strategic lighting masterplans for cities like Cambridge, Coventry and Durham and light strategies for private developments such as Kings Cross, London, Greenwich Peninsula and Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.
Based in Los Angeles, HBA (Hirsch Bedner Associates) employs more than 1500 interior designers, lighting designers, graphic designers, architects and art consultants. Among their major projects: Marriott Hotel, Cairo; The Hotel Indigo, Shanghai; Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai; Siam Kempinski, Bangkok; Hotel Maria Cristina, San Sebastian; St. Regis, Rome; Alpina Gstaad in Switzerland; Intercontinental London; Castel Monastero in Italy.
BLD (Bilkey Llinas Design) runs offices in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and in Hong Kong with production studios in Guangzhou, China. Among projects in progress: Four Seasons Serviced Apartments in Hong Kong; Ritz-Carlton in Denver; Courtyard Marriott Nerul in India.
LPA (Lighting Planner Associates), established in 1990 employs 60 unique lighting specialists at its offices in Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. Among projects in progress: Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore.
More about the latest edition of the report top architectural companies and lighting designers
