The Shortlist for the 2020 Lux Awards has been announced and this year the list features a whole host of innovative projects and inventive new technologies.

A team of expert judges – consisting of experienced lighting professionals, designers and end users of lighting – have considered the entries and whittled down the list to just those schemes that they believe have a shot at winning a coveted Lux Award trophy.

See the winners revealed at the Lux Awards 2020 digital ceremony which closes the LuxLive Digital Festival of Lighting at 4pm on Thursday 12 November.

LUX AWARDS 2020 SHORTLIST iN FULL

Retail Lighting Project of the Year

Harrods Men’s Shoes Department, London – Lighting Design International

Icon Outlet at the O2, London – Hoare Lea

Lush, Liverpool – Michael Grubb Studio

Marks & Spencer, Nationwide – Signify

 

Industrial and Transport Lighting Project of the Year

Gloucester Green Car Park, Oxford – Oxford City Council

Paddington Station, Elizabeth Line, London – WSP

 

Hospitality, Leisure and Faith Lighting Project of the Year

Church of St Faith, Overbury, Worcestershire – dpa lighting consultants

St Matthias Church, London – CES Lighting & Electrical Specialists

The Standard Hotel, London – Isometrix Lighting + Design

Royal Opera House, London – StudioFractal

 

Office, Education and Healthcare Lighting Project of the Year

Barings Bank, London – Hoare Lea

Heanor Park Care Home, Derbyshire – amBX

Teaching and Learning Building, University of Birmingham – BDP

West Downs Campus, University of Winchester – Michael Grubb Studio

 

Outdoor Lighting Project of the Year

The Iron Bridge, Shropshire – LPA Lighting

Quadrant Arcade, London – AECOM

Royal Liver Building, Liverpool – Arup

Sayer Street and The Meadow, London – Michael Grubb Studio

 

Interior Luminaire of the Year

Air-Lume – Trinity Lighting

Blade R – iGuzzini

Prismpack – Holophane Europe

 

Exterior Luminaire of the Year

Link2Home camera floodlight – Link2Home UK

Stealth with SAM – Acrospire Products

Xeon – Eclatec

 

Emergency Lighting Product of the Year
in association with RP-Technik

Alya – Fox Lux

Dimming Halo Emergency – Liteplan Emergency Lighting

Integrated Sensor and Emergency Light – Simmtronic

Safecility wireless emergency lighting control – Safecility

 

Connected Lighting Innovation of the Year

Biolux HCL – Ledvance

Lys Button and Light Diet – Lys

Trulifi – Signify

 

Enabling Technology of the Year

Ilona-Zoom – LEDil

LH281H – Samsung Electronics

Vesta Thrive – Bridgelux

 

Controls Product of the Year

ActiveAhead Generation 2 – Helvar

Comlight Zhaga Radar Sensor – Smart City Products

Gesture contactless light switch – Verde LED

 

Supplier of the Year

Hacel Lighting

Skinflint

Thorlux Lighting

Client of the Year

To be announced during the ceremony

Young Lighter of the Year

In association with the Society of Light and Lighting

Shortlist to be announced

Lux Person of the Year

To be announced during the ceremony

Take a look at the Lux Awards 2020 Judges and those who will take on the challenge of choosing this year’s best lighting projects and products.

From left to right: Carmela Dagnello, WSP; Gordon Routledge, Ideas with Energy; Simon Barnett, Light On Line; Anna Rooney, AECOM; Michael Collett, EXALTA; Ray Molony, Lux Review; Rebecca Weir, Light IQ.

From left to right: Alan Tulla, Lux Review; Kristina Allison, Atkins Global; Caroline Webb, Max Fordham LLP; Giles Radford, City of London; Chris Barnes, London South Bank University; Ray Molony, Lux Review; Sophie Parry, Zumtobel Group.

To find out more about the judges click here.

Do you have an outstanding product or project worthy of being a winner? Enter for a Lux award today! Entries close 25th September at midnight BST.

When: 11 November 2020

Where: Troxy, London

The Lux Awards are designed to celebrate and reward both creativity and sustainability, recognising clients and end-users that have used lighting in exceptional ways to improve their lit environment, reduce energy and achieve business objectives.

Celebrating excellence in lighting, the glamorous evening includes a glittering networking drinks reception, the presentation ceremony, gala dinner, and an after-party.

Entries are now open, and with 13 diverse categories to choose from, there is an opportunity for everyone to be in with a chance of winning a coveted Lux Awards trophy. Entries cost £170 +VAT. To take a look at the categories and begin your entry, click here.

Entries close 5 July 2020.

The Lux Awards are designed to celebrate and reward both creativity and sustainability, recognising clients and end-users that have used lighting in exceptional ways to improve their lit environment, reduce energy and achieve business objectives.

Robe Lighting France delivered its first Robe Awards event, a new design / programming / operating competition which saw 10 finalists – whittled down from over 160 initial entrants – to battle it out in person at Les Studios de la Montjoie in the La Plaine St Denis area near Paris … where they utilised a full Robe lighting rig.

It all started just ahead of the pandemic and lockdowns, when a succession of conversations took place – first ones were in fact over a year ago and between Sebastien Dendele, president of rental company MursDeLeds (MDL), and well-known TV lighting operator Yannick Duc who have been friends and colleagues for over a decade, both sharing a huge passion for lighting!

It was after MursDeLeds had installed Robe fixtures in a Paris club lighting rig that the two men hit on the idea of organising a lighting competition … and started talking with Robe France account handler Jean Philippe Fouilleul. He started to involve his colleagues Bruno Garros, Elie Battah and Vincent Bouquet, who floated the idea of engaging lighting designers and operators – young and aspiring as well as those with already established careers.

And so, the Robe Awards 2021 (France) was born.

The competition kicked off in December and was open to anyone in France familiar with professional lighting consoles and visualisation software and able to programme / operate a lightshow. The initial three stages were virtual and entered via a dedicated Facebook page.

Entrants had to create a 90 second timecoded lightshow utilizing grandMA 3D, Capture or Depence² and 133 x Robe virtual moving lights, all working to the same predesignated music track.

Those gaining the most likes went through to the next round and the process was repeated … until three rounds later, the 10 finalists emerged. They ranged from practising lighting professionals to breakthrough designers, programmers, and operators.

The Finale was staged IRL (in real life) at Les Studios de la Montjoie in a fully Covid-safe and socially distanced event environment which was livestreamed via Robe France’s YouTube channel.

The Finale featured a much larger real lighting system comprising of nearly 300 Robe fixtures including the just-launched high-powered FORTE (with self-referencing, data capturing TE™ 1.000W White LED TRANSFERABLE ENGINE), and a physical lighting console that had to be programmed and operated live and in real time to a royalty free music track of the competitor’s choice.

Andreas Monschauer production designed the studio lighting rig used by the finalists for their lightshows, which included a spectacular central feature utilising a combination of 1 x PixelPATT, 12 x PATT 2013s, 36 x OnePATTs and 23 x PicklePATTs.

Andreas is quick to share credit for this WOW factor with the team from MDL, adding that the idea behind it was “to add a strong and unique Robe identity to the overall design” and doing it with this family of very Robe specific fixtures proved the way-to-go.

The PATT centrepiece was flanked by two flown grids of bespoke moving LED panels framed with RGBW pixel dots designed by MDL. These were also available for the finalists to use.

Six groups of two Robe Tetra2 bars were rigged vertically in front of the main LED screen at the back of the space, with five more Tetra2 moving LED battens in a line upstage along the floor. All the other fixtures were distributed between a series of curved floor-mounted trusses, the studio’s roof grid and the deck.

The 10 brand-new Robe FORTEs were joined by 10 x ESPRITES and 8 x SPOTEs – also among Robe’s newest moving luminaires – as well as popular industry-standard Robe products like Spiider and Tarrantula LED wash beams, MegaPointes, LEDBeam 150s and miniPointes.

In addition to the competition rig, a load more Robe fixtures were deployed for general studio lighting like illuminating the judge’s platforms and other areas, with nine T1 Profiles for key lighting, plus more Spiiders, miniPointes and PicklePATTs, ParFect 150s and two RoboSpot remote controlled follow spot systems.

Each finalist had three days to pre-vis their show at home before arriving at the studio with their show-file, and a further 3 hours onsite to upload this and fine-tune, with a choice of grandMA or ChamSys consoles.

The Finale light shows were judged by four leading industry professionals, all present in the studio, although the identity of the show creator remained anonymous throughout the performance and judging!

Two sets of marks were awarded – for the technical and creative elements of each show – by each judge.

The eminent judges were Philippe Cerceau from Paris-based creative design company Clair Obscur, known for his fresh and innovative approach to lighting, a craft finessed over 20 years’ experience working at the cutting edge of fashion and style events and luxury brand activations.

He was joined byFrédéric “Aldo” Fayard,founder and artistic director of Paris-based creative design practice Concept K, who – normally – travels worldwide working on the coolest and most imaginative projects including live shows and installations.

The third judge was Dimitri Vassiliu, one of France’s best-known music, concert touring and show lighting and visual designers and scenographers, famous for his highly original production and concept ideas and perspectives.

“It was truly amazing to get judges of this calibre involved in the project,” commented Robe France CEO Bruno Garros.

The fourth judge was Robe s.r.o.’s global business development manager Bram De Clerck, who stated, “It was fantastic to see these efforts made by Bruno, Elie, Vincent, Jean Philippe and the team from Robe France and their partner companies, all of whom gave their time and resources into making this event happen during one of the toughest lockdowns.

“The quality of the contestants was excellent as was the Finale event! The whole competition has proved a great talking point, generated lots of positivity, engagement and conversions and it’s also been a lot of fun presenting these new challenges to the contestants!”

After some extremely tough judging, Jean-Pierre Cary, a lighting designer and assistant operator, was declared the winner.

The runners up were theatre LD Alexandre Marcadé and lighting technician Matthieu Laurent, while fourth place was decided by public vote via Facebook, going to LD Eve Harpe.

Bruno Garros enthused, “Apart from connecting with so many people across the French lighting community through these Robe Awards, it was a huge honour to work with everyone involved – from the judges to our collaborating technical partners! We all enjoyed the passion, ingenuity, and attention to detail that our entrants put into their shows, and above everything, the finale event was a fantastic chance to show how we can safely stage Covid-safe events.”

He added that it is intended to run the Robe Awards again, probably at the same time of year, because even in ‘normal’ times with no pandemic and the industry buzzing and everyone working, December through early February is a traditional ‘down’ time.

Those all-important technical partners included MDL who provided lighting, video, 3D tracking, teams setup, catering, and more; Plani-Presse who supplied cameras, sound, mics, and editing services; and JBL Sonorisation who delivered the 12 x Robe SilverScans that were also included in the Finale lighting rig together with some of the power / electrical distribution.

The event’s technical director was Florian Thuillier, the lighting technical director was Vincent Bourveau, director of photography for the livestream was Dimitri Gogos and the cameras were directed by Marc Regnaudin.

Yannick Duc was the operator for both lighting and media server during the finale. Media server and XR tracking was looked after by Sebastien Barry with streaming support from Quentin Fayette.

The studio video and lighting equipment, logistics and supply for the Finale was overseen by Sebastien Dendele.

The Awards project manager was Kevin Dalibert, with stage managing in the capable hands of Régis Douvry. A console support group was co-ordinated by Quentin Douriez and Kevin Bellay and the teaser and Robe Awards media creation was looked after by Séléné Grandchamp.

Jean-Philippe Fouilleul, Maxime Jeanjean and Vincent Bouquet from Robe France were on hand with global support throughout the competition including during all the rounds and the Finale.

The Covid protocol and testing manager at Les Studios de la Montjoie for the Finale was Annie Rhino.

Bruno emphasises the central role played by Sébastien Dendele in the whole event and the finale. “Without his passion, enthusiasm and perseverance we would never have been able to stage a project of these dimensions, especially during these extraordinary times,” he concluded.

Please check this link for an English sub-titled version of the Finale broadcast event https://youtu.be/iyIEeT8xgCQ

Photos: Courtesy Robe France.

The line-up of speakers has been named for next week’s LuxLive 2020 Digital Festival and includes world class designers Mark Major, Dean Skira and Robyn Goldstein, scientists Christopher Cuttle and Stephen Lockley, and tech innovators Sami Salomaa and Szymon Slupik. 

LuxLive Digital Festival – which takes place on Wednesday 11 November and Thursday 12 November 2020 –  will have a central theme of Health and Wellbeing and is divided into four main strands: Emergency Lighting, Smart Lighting, Workplace and Lightspace, focusing on lighting in architecture.

Each strand will take centre stage at certain times throughout the festival and will deliver compelling content.

Here’s the top 10 speakers not to miss:

1 MARK MAJOR

Mark Major, co-founder and director of London-based lighting design practice Speirs + Major will explore his relighting of the 900-year-old Norwich Cathedral at 1.20pm on Thursday 12 November.

2 DEAN SKIRA

Dead Skira, director of Skira Architectural Lighting, will present a session called ‘The simple Trick that created a dramatic office exterior’ and in it he will look at the clever use of an exterior ‘blade’ fitting to create a dramatic and dynamic lighting installation at a prominent office development in Zagreb.

The design used IP-rated fittings with 360 degree blade optics – the iGuzzini Trick luminaires – to illuminate the brise soleil, which in turn acts as a secondary reflector. The talk takes place on Thursday 12 November at 2pm.

3 ROBYN GOLDSTEIN

Robyn Goldstein of HLB Lighting Design will walk us through the lighting at the global headquarters of cybersecurity firm Akamai Technologies in Massachusetts at 11.40am on Thursday 12 November.

Drawing inspiration from the idea of network connectivity, the Akamai HQ features a concept that begins in the lobby, with lines of light guiding people throughout the 19-story building along a continuous mile-long path, known as the ‘AkaMile’.

This high-concept design is both visually stunning and energy efficient, designed to both LEED v4 and WELL v2 Gold certification levels.

4 CHRISTOPHER CUTTLE

Christopher ‘Kit’ Cuttle, the well-known lighting scientist and educator, will argue that it’s time to replace the lumen in his presentation at 12.40pm on Thursday 12 November.

The lumen, a measure of lighting since the 1920s, is outdated and needs to be replaced – but with what? Cuttle will explain why the notion of a fundamental unit of light is no longer tenable and how it could be revised.

5 & 6 STEVEN LOCKLEY AND SAMI SALOMAA

Steven Lockley, associate professor of medicine in the sleep medicine department at Harvard Medical School will discuss ‘why circadian lighting is important’ with Sami Salomaa, the founder of Nordic lighting startup Light Cognitive, at 2.10pm on Wednesday 11 November.

Dr Lockley and Salomaa discuss how we can benefit from circadian lighting.  Circadian lighting is smarter and more realistic than ever before – allowing us to benefit from convincing artificial skylights and natural light features in all spaces.

7 SZYMON SLUPIK

Szymon Slupik, CTO and co-founder at Silvair will join Alan Jackson, ‘chief evangelist’ at Helvar and Paul Drosihn, general manager of The DALI Alliance (DiiA) in a panel discussion entitled: DALI-2® and Bluetooth® mesh: A game changer?’

The organisations behind Bluetooth mesh and the DALI-2® protocols have worked together on a specification for a standard interface, allowing DALI® light fittings to talk to Bluetooth mesh wireless lighting controllers and accelerating the development of intelligent and connected lighting systems.

8 LARA JIAD

Lara Jiad, associate in the lighting team at WSP, will explore street data and connectivity.

Jiad currently has a number of trail sites in the UK looking at highway sensors that monitor drainage to help local authorities with maintenance.

9 SOPHIE PARRY

Sophie Parry, technical applications consultant at the Society of Light and Lighting, will give a vital and timely presentation on emergency lighting entitled: ‘Your responsibilities under the law’. She will run though our current obligations to ensure compliance in terms of emergency lighting standards, testing and maintenance, including the new ‘points of emphasis’ additions to the regulations. It takes place on Wednesday 11 November at 9.30am.

10 RUTH KELLY WASKETT

Hoare Lea associate Ruth Kelly Waskett will explore lighting for productivity and wellness and outline a comparison briefing for end users. She will answer questions such as: What is difference between colour-tuneable lighting and circadian lighting and how do they apply in a workplace? What are the measurable benefits to occupants of using these systems? Are they worth the investment in terms of productivity?

Colour-tuneable white LEDs are currently fashionable for offices – but do they deliver any real circadian benefits?

Kelly will explore the issue with reference to real-world installations.

11 & 12 ELETTRA BORDONARO AND MANEL KHALE

Bordonaro and Khale will explore ‘light and the social impact’ in a special ‘Women in Lighting’ session.

Bordonaro, the founder and creative director of Light Follows Behaviour, will discuss how light enables us to evaluate the inequalities in public space and how it can be a vehicle to improve the society we live in.

Khale, of Makali Design, will speak specifically on a ground roots project using solar lighting to tackle problems caused by the recent devastation in Beirut.

 

In addition to the headline acts, the event will also offer sponsored keynote presentations as well as case studies and interactive learning.

The Emergency Lighting strand includes presentations of the responsibilities of building owners under the law, how to do a risk assessment, emergency lighting for social housing, how to manage emergency lighting across an estate and emergency lighting controls.

The Smart Lighting stream sponsored by Bluetooth will look at how to monitor social distancing using the lights, how circadian lighting transformed life at a Derby care home, the lighting controls behind the City of London become a ‘smart city’, the compatibility of DALI-2 and Bluetooth mesh and what it means for lighting control, and how street lights that monitor air quality and footfall.

The Workplace track will focus on lighting for productivity and wellness. Seminars will explore how to light to the WELL v2™ pilot standard as well as some high profile case studies.

The event will also allow one-to-one meeting facilities, roundtable discussions, video presentations, live polling and Q&A sessions throughout.

The popular Lux Awards will close the festival as it makes its digital debut edition in the award’s celebrated history.

LuxLive is being supported by Bluetooth, Thorlux Lighting, the Lighting Industry Association, the Society of Light and Lighting, the Institution of Lighting Professionals, Women in Lighting, the Wi-Sun Alliance, Helvar and the  Digital Illumination Interface Alliance.

Attendance at LuxLive is completely free. To register and stay in the loop of upcoming speakers and topics, click HERE.

For further information on how to be involved as a sponsor or contributor please click HERE.

 

Taking place during the original LuxLive dates of 11 and 12 November, the LuxLive Digital Festival will be representing an ambitious and comprehensive digital education programme focusing on a central theme of Health and Wellbeing.

The festival will be made up of four strands with their sessions split over the two days: Emergency Lighting, Smart Lighting, Workplace and the Lightspace Festival, focusing on lighting in architecture.

In addition to the headline acts, the festival will also offer sponsored keynote presentations as well as case studies and interactive learning.

Furthermore, there will be plenty of opportunity for networking with one-to-one meeting facilities, round table discussions, video presentations, live polling, and Q&A sessions throughout.

The popular Lux Awards will close the festival as it makes its digital debut edition in the award’s celebrated history.

Today, 8^th July, Clarion Events, owner of Revo Media, announced that due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on large scale events, that the LuxLive 2020 trade exhibition will be postponed until November 2021.

In the absence of clear indication from the Government on the timeline for a return to large scale exhibitions, the UK has seen a continual postponing and cancelling of trade shows across all sectors.

The organisers of LuxLive believe that even if a green light is provided to run trade shows this year, there is not enough time remaining to deliver the high quality event that the industry expects and deserves.

However, the organisers are pleased to announce that in the absence of a physical LuxLive trade event, it is launching two exciting new digital events, scheduled to take place in September and November.

Taking place on September 22^nd will be a special LuxLive Digital Kicker Conference on the timely and urgent topic of UV-C lighting and its role in helping building managers ensure the highest levels of safety and wellbeing.

Taking place during the original LuxLive dates of 11th and 12th November will be the LuxLive Digital Festival, representing the most ambitious and comprehensive digital education programme ever seen in the industry.

The festival will have a central theme of Health and Wellbeing.

Stressing that the lighting industry has a huge opportunity to be seen as a major facilitator of health and wellbeing to communities and societies, the organisers of the LuxLive Digital Festival have announced four strands to the event – Emergency Lighting, Smart Lighting, Workplace and the Lightspace Festival, focusing on lighting in architecture.

Each strand will take centre stage at certain times throughout the two-day festival and will deliver compelling educational headline content.

In addition to the headline acts, the festival will also offer sponsored keynote presentations as well as case studies and interactive learning.

The event will also allow one-to-one meeting facilities, roundtable discussions, video presentations, live polling and Q&A sessions throughout.

The popular Lux Awards will close the festival as it makes its digital debut edition in the award’s celebrated history.

James Samuel, Portfolio Director, Clarion Events stated: “It is obviously disappointing that running LuxLive in it physical state will not be possible this year.

Having seen so many events in the sector cancelled or postponed there was a real sense of excitement about bringing the industry together in November.

Unfortunately the Government’s current position where no restart date has been given to large events means that running the physical event is not going to be possible.

However, in preparation for this scenario the team has been working hard to ensure that the industry can still come together.

I am delighted that LuxLive will still bring the great and the good of the lighting industry to share, connect, learn and motivate each other through the LuxLive Digital Festival in November and prior to that via the very topical LuxLive Digital Kicker conference on UV-C Lighting.”

On the announcement of the event’s themes, Samuel added: “The topic of health and wellbeing is so important now more so than ever.

I am really looking forward to sharing with the industry our headline speakers, and other compelling initiatives that will allow the LuxLive Digital Festival to play a significant part in the lighting industry calendar.

In addition, I cannot think of a better way to finish the festival with the iconic Lux Awards where the industry can take time to celebrate outstanding achievement in what has been a very challenging year.

LuxLive will be different this year but what remains is our commitment to provide unparalleled learning, discovery and connections.

We invite everyone to be part of our digital gathering to really promote how the lighting industry will take the lead in providing health, wellbeing and safety to our communities and societies at large.”

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, John Cullen Lighting continues to be at the forefront of the ongoing lighting transformation. Recognised throughout the world for lighting design excellence with award-winning schemes and discreet architectural luminaires, John Cullen Lighting is known for its ability to enhance the enjoyment of spaces through the power of light. Whether working on a town or country residence, garden, hotel or superyacht, contemporary or traditional, the goal is always to integrate with the vision of each client and ensure their imagination is exceeded.

Creative Director Sally Storey is a leading name in lighting who has a passion for the effects and impact of light on space and design, as did the company founder, lighting designer John Cullen. As Sally explains, “John Cullen’s philosophy is to create the finest quality of light from the most discreet luminaires; in achieving this, the light source should always be concealed.” Nature has provided the company’s vision. Inspired by natural light, Sally and her experienced team have developed bespoke schemes that have highlighted the drama that light can create, paying close attention to the quality of light, the discreetness of the fittings and their effects, cleverly illuminating colour, shape, form and shadow according to each individual space and requirement.

As Sally Storey notes “Lighting is the most versatile interior design tool that can entirely change the way a room looks and feels at the touch of a button. No other interior element can have such a strong impact. Architectural lighting should be as discreet as possible, to look effortless and make any space wonderful to be in.”

Sally and her team’s extensive knowledge and understanding of light and technology have, over time, helped alter perceptions of how lighting can be used. Today, good lighting is seen as an art form. As an innovator, Sally has transformed the perception of this sector so that lighting is now considered a key element of any project alongside architects, interior and landscape designers. John Cullen Lighting is credited with creating a lighting narrative that in turn has elevated and enhanced the UK lighting industry.

Innovation continues to be a driving force. John Cullen Lighting’s own research and development department is adept at adapting to each technological advance and application, creating its own British designed world-class high-quality luminaries capable of incredible effects. Included in its toolbox are some of the most iconic designs such as the classic Polespring downlight that has evolved and improved over the years in response and benefit from the newest technology. It remains the most discreet and elegant downlight on the market.

As a trusted authority in the lighting arena, John Cullen Lighting continues to be inspired by the drama of natural light. John Cullen lighting is looking forward to embracing the newest development in lighting, such as smart technology, and ensuring that its clients continue to benefit from the power of excellent lighting in the enjoyment of their spaces, both inside and out.

JOHN CULLEN LIGHTING – TIMELINE (1981-2021) 

1981

Founded by John Cullen, a pioneer of lighting design at the start of the halogen revolution. The first Showroom was opened in Smith Street, London, demonstrating lighting designed by Sally Storey.

1983

John Cullen passed away and Sally Storey took over as Design Director.

1986

The showroom was moved from Smith Street to Fulham Palace Road.

1990

The introduction of the first John Cullen halogen products that were designed in house and manufactured in the UK – Polestar downlight and Highlight, free standing uplight.

The 50W Polestar was the smallest downlights on the market, a third of the size of downlights before which used the 80 watt Par 38 lamp. The introduction by John Cullen of the double black baffle – black inner to reduce glare and lamp recessed into the ceiling to prevent even more glare – revolutionised the downlight ensuring a much more discreet unobtrusive way of lighting the home.

1992

The showroom was moved to a single unit on the famous Kings Road, London. Having developed a new floor wash light for the villa Sirolo, John Cullen’s iconic Sirolo was launched. After several improvements is still going strong today. The Columini was designed as the first uplight. Hot to the touch with the halogen bulb, one had to be careful where it was installed to ensure bags and fingers were not burnt!

1993

The first Lighting Masterclass was introduced to educate both trade and public alike on the new architectural lighting transforming homes and gardens. Lighting is more than just a pendant in the centre of a room.

1994

The warehouse opened for storage and dispatch of products. John Cullen luminaires were installed on a Superyacht for the first time.

2000

Sally Storey released her first book titled ‘Lighting: Recipes and Ideas’ by Quadrille. A self-help book to help people understand the impact of architectural lighting on the home.

2006

Sally Storey released her second book titled ‘Lighting by Design’, an aspirational book with stunning images specially commissioned by Luke White.

2006 also marked the start of the LED revolution when LED had developed sufficiently to be suitable for use in the home. Our first LED was launched, the ‘LED Polespring’, a low power 8W LED version of the iconic 50W downlight.

This was swiftly followed by the “cool to touch” 1W Lucca uplight, to replace the hotter Columini.

2008

Sally Storey released her third book titled ‘Perfect Lighting’ whilst the warehouse space was doubled to accommodate the growth of the company.

2011

First LED garden light fittings, the Kew spotlight and Hampton flood light were introduced into the range. At just 1W each, this heralded the ability to light a small garden for 60 watts, less than a conventional light bulb!

This year John Cullen also won the Best Lighting Project Award at the inaugural idFX Design Awards for a barn conversion in Devon.

2012

The company move to a double fronted showroom with a basement design studio along the King’s Road in London. This is where the “John Cullen House” took shape and became an Inspiration Centre for lighting ideas. This included the first unique John Cullen “lighting pod”, an all-white space in which the effect of lighting truly demonstrates the power and magic of light.

2015

Lighting of Marcus Barnett’s award-winning show garden at Chelsea Flower Show, followed by two further award-winning gardens at Chelsea for Hay Joung Hwang in 2016 and 2018.

2016

John Cullen celebrated 35 years and opened its new Middle East office in Dubai.

2018

The quest to miniaturize products started when the Polespring 50 downlight range was made smaller and the 40 range was born. This was coupled with the new versatile Vorsa spotlight range with over 200 variations to choose from.

The international reach extended with a new European team and studio in Paris, as well as doubling the team in Dubai. The India division was opened to work closely with local architects and interior designers across the subcontinent.

2019

The evolution of the downlight continued with the even smaller 30 range. The new design has all the functionality and adaptability expected from the 50 and 40 range but in a new miniature downlight.

2020

The Dubai team set up the British Design House with the new Showroom furnished by other UK luxury brands.

Sally Storey’s contribution to lighting is recognised internationally as she receives The LIT 2020 Lighting Achievement Awards (the Oscar equivalent in lighting)

2021 – where we are headed…

The focus for 2021 and beyond is further miniaturisation:-

– The Minim joinery downlight – the same size as a UK 5 pence piece

– The Vorsa Dot – the smallest luminaire on the market

John Cullen is currently working on a sustainability policy to be carbon neutral by 2030 driving towards luminaire design and manufacture for the circular economy.