CHICAGO — Lightswitch is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. Founded in 1993 with offices in San Francisco and Chicago, the firm expanded with locations in Los Angeles, New York and Orlando. In 2007, it opened an architectural lighting division. The company extended its reach to Asia with a Hong Kong office in 2012. The Lightswitch team now includes more than 40 designers and support staff with its six full-service offices.
More details from Lightswitch (www.lightswitch.net):
“We all started out by running away to ‘join the circus’ in one way or another, and it is this independent spirit and what it allows us to achieve that is the core of our individual and collective personae,” says founder and principal John Featherstone. “We are all very passionate about what we do and relentless in our pursuit of excellence. The common ground between our team isn’t just creative or aesthetic, but also a shared vision of what’s important and necessary for our clients and for the company.”
Along the way, Lightswitch has been privileged to work with some of the world’s leading performers and Fortune 100 companies, ranging from charter clients like Apple and Nintendo to newcomers like up-and-coming band Imagine Dragons. Its collaborations have produced award-winning designs, including the IES Illumination Award-winning City of Dreams casino in Macau and the Spaceship Two rollout for Virgin Galactic.
“At its best, our work is a collaborative process. The diversity of our people and projects keeps fresh ideas and new design approaches percolating. Collaboration with others, whether it’s our clients, our team, or our vendor partners is the thing that makes this so exciting, and even possible,” says founder and principal Norm Schwab.
