11 AD-Approved Architectural Lighting Designers to Make Your Next Project Glow

Lighting designers do much more than choose stylish fixtures. They are cartographers, scenographers, and researchers, combining cutting-edge technology with creative spatial awareness to plan thoughtful illumination schemes for interiors, exteriors, and landscapes. “I think of the role not only as a technical consultant but also as a creative partner,” says Hervé Descottes, founder of New York–based lighting firm L’Observatoire International. Architectural lighting designers, he explains, “are aligned with an architect in the same way that a director of photography collaborates with a film director.” And bringing in a lighting specialist at the early stages of a project’s development is essential, he adds. Below, AD PRO has compiled 11 of the most-respected architectural lighting designers in the business. Fisher Marantz Stone As a member of both the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and the International Dark-Sky Association, Fisher Marantz Stone is known for its eco-friendly approach to lighting design, often incorporating solar solutions into its projects. With offices in New York, Austin, and Seattle, FMS collaborates with both bespoke studios and internationally recognized firms like Robert A.M. Stern and Yabu Pushelberg. Recently completed projects include the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Pittsburgh International Airport. Focus Lighting “We use light in a creative way to help [architects and designers] deliver a design that’s memorable and beautiful,” says Focus Lighting partner Brett Anderson. At their bespoke light lab in Brooklyn, Focus designers mock up their lighting schemes under different conditions to demonstrate what their designs will look like to clients. This meticulousness has caught the attention of AD100 designers like GRT Architects and Ken Fulk, who have tapped Focus Lighting for both residential and commercial projects. The firm has recently completed designs for the Ambassadors Clubhouse restaurant in New York, and for designer Nancy Mah’s Hudson Valley home. HLB Lighting Design HLB Lighting Design has come a long way since 1968, when Jules G. Horton founded the firm in Manhattan. Today, with 10 offices worldwide, HLB offers multiple lighting design services, including light art installations and daylighting (for projects that require the manipulation of natural light). The firm also has a dedicated residential lighting design studio, which has recently collaborated with AD100 designers on projects in the Hamptons, Silicon Valley, Key Biscayne, Jackson Hole, and Maui. John Cullen Lighting Founded in 1981 by a lighting designer for the BBC, John Cullen Lighting now operates out of offices in London, Paris, Dubai, Mumbai, and Dallas. The firm focuses on lighting design for residential projects, including ground-up constructions, renovations, and historically sensitive homes. Recent collaborators include Hill House Design, Louise Bradley, and AD100 firm Studio Shamshiri. Lighting Workshop Doug Russell, founder of Lighting Workshop, believes that “good lighting design should be richly experiential.” His firm, which has offices in Brooklyn and Southampton, considers cutting-edge technology, maintenance, and sustainability goals when approaching collaborations with architects and designers, including Weiss Manfredi, Gensler, and the AD100 firm Bjarke Ingels Group. Notable projects include the Calvin Klein flagship in Tokyo, the Applied Math building at Brown University in Providence, and waterfront lighting for Domino Park in Brooklyn. Linnaea Tillett Lighting Design Associates Based in New York, Linnaea Tillett Lighting Design Associates has created ecologically sensitive lighting for private residences, significant memorials, sculpture gardens, and more for over 35 years. Some of the firm’s most notable lighting projects include Houston’s Menil Residence Garden, The Confluence at Waterloo Greenway in Austin, and the Morgan Library & Museum and its garden in New York. “We pride ourselves in finding the poetic in the functional,” says founder Linnaea Tillett, who has collaborated with Maya Lin, Toshiko Mori, and Andrea Cochran. L’Observatoire International “The first question we always ask at the start of a project is: ‘Why are we doing this?’” says Hervé Descottes, founder of L’Observatoire International. “Only once the concept is fully articulated do we begin the search for solutions.” The New York–based lighting design firm creates elegant strategies for historically significant buildings and cultural institutions, including the Cartier Foundation in Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Harrods flagship in London. The firm has also collaborated with the likes of AD Hall of Fame architect Annabelle Selldorf and the late Frank Gehry. Join the AD PRO Directory, AD’s professional network that gives you access to exclusive events and exposure to the future clients. Learn more Orsman Design Based in New York and Miami, Orsman Design begins every project with the following question: “We ask how a space should feel after sunset,” says founder Nathan Orsman, who often lends his lighting design expertise to AD PRO. “Our greatest success is when the lighting disappears, leaving only the feeling that the environment is exactly as it was always meant to be.” The firm has worked with AD Hall of Famers like Kelly Wearstler, Peter Marino, and Jamie Drake, and has recently completed lighting designs for private residences in Los Cabos, Mexico, and in New York’s Central Park Tower. Luumbre by RegensDesign Heavy-hitting architects and design firms (think: Norman Foster, Nicole Hollis, and Herzog & de Meuron) keep RegensDesign on speed dial to illuminate their projects. The Los Angeles–based firm works across residential, retail, and civic sectors using a site-specific approach—recent undertakings include a residence in Melides, Portugal, and an interactive lighting design for the children’s wing at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. “Working with a lighting designer should feel like dancing tango,” says founder Andres Regens. “Our job is to read the architectural principles, understand the client and the team, and move to their rhythm.” Speirs Major Light Architecture Whether it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Saudi Arabia or a tree-shaped park in one of China’s busiest business districts, Speirs Major Light Architecture rises to the challenge of an unconventional lighting project. The London- and Tokyo-based firm takes an experimental approach to its projects, which span civic, cultural, hospitality, and residential sectors. Since their founding in 1993, they’ve collaborated with firms like Universal Design Studio, Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), and Heatherwick Studio. Tirschwell Lighting Design Part of what makes Tirschwell Lighting Design distinct is its tactile focus. “Rather than relying solely on renderings, we create and refine both small- and large-scale mock-ups using actual light sources and authentic materials,” says founder Matthew Tirschwell. By engaging clients in this workflow, the New York–and Los Angeles–based firm fosters a more collaborative decision-making process. Tirschwell Lighting Design works across multiple sectors, but luxury residential projects are their specialty. Collaborators on such properties include AD Hall of Famers like Peter Marino, Tadao Ando, and Deborah Berke, as well as AD PRO Directory firm Meyer Davis.