Many lighting showrooms operate like physical catalogues, presenting hundreds of product offerings side by side. But architect Mark Burkart, principal of the Calgary-, Victoria- and Tofino-based design firm , believes that this type of cluttered setup doesn’t make for the best browsing experience. “As designers, when we shop for lighting, we are overwhelmed by the number of options,” he says. “It’s a parallel to the modern world, where there’s a tyranny of choice.” Tapped to design luminaire (and furniture) showroom LightForm’s new Vancouver flagship, Burkart and his team set out to envision a less dense, more focused presentation of lamps, pendants and sconces.
Burkart says that president Richard Assaly saw Little Giant as the perfect hire precisely because the studio, which works mainly on hospitality and residential projects, is also the store’s target customer. “We were really designing for ourselves and our peers,” notes Ursula Baig, Little Giant’s director of interior design. “After years of working with us, Richard appreciated that we take a very cinematic approach to our spaces. We wanted people walking in to feel transformed, and to experience LightForm’s point of view.”
Sure enough, the front reception area — featuring a rounded plaster desk accented by a smooth, circular niche that holds a sculptural flower vase, all lit from above by a combination of branch-like Ivy and pill-shaped Capsula pendants — is a perfect example of Little Giant’s strong storytelling capabilities in action. “It’s meant to be this metaphorical nod to the wave-particle duality of light — the long piece is the wave, and that small circle is the particle or dot,” explains Burkart.
Arriving at the store from the street, you wouldn’t initially expect that you were in for these types of rich, moody moments. LightForm Vancouver operates from the ground floor of a modern, commercial new build — meaning that Little Giant was handed a big, open space wrapped in glass walls. “The main challenges became creating more intimacy and working around all the light bleed coming in,” Burkart says. Thick curtains proved to be the perfect solution, helping to organize the showroom into vignettes that direct attention towards each product’s signature glow. “The drapery controls the light coming in to create these dark niches, but it also lets us break up the space to create a more exploratory experience,” he explains. “The walls also introduce curves into what is otherwise a rectangular space,” adds Baig.
Adding to the store’s welcoming feel, several key zones are arranged to mimic residential interiors. “A big part of LightForm’s market is custom homes, so displaying lights in that setting feels more natural,” says Burkart. When designers bring their clients in there and they see a certain light hanging in the showroom kitchen, they develop a more emotional connection to it that makes them more likely to buy it than if it were just one of 200 lights hanging altogether.” The kitchen zone, lit by a trio of Nebra suspension lights draped in transparent mesh, also reflects the merger of sales and hospitality, facilitating events or just allowing the sales team to talk through project logistics with a designer over coffee.
Elsewhere, a long bookshelf showcases selections from LightForm’s large range of portable lamps alongside an intriguing library of books — another merchandising touch that helps to give the space a more personal, lived-in feel. “It’s paired with seating areas [two of them anchored by crown-like and Big Glow bioplastic pendants, respectively] where designers can feel comfortable going over drawings with clients, and pulling over a portable to help,” says Baig.
The project’s artwork introduces another layer while also carrying a connection to a key brand in LightForm’s roster. As it turns out, each of the artworks is produced by Spanish lighting manufacturer . “They have this line, , of museum-quality reproductions of Old Masters,” explains Burkart. “They’re beautiful, and it makes for a nice juxtaposition to the modern elements, so we helped pick the pieces and spread them out,” says Baig.
While LightForm embraced Little Giant’s more curated direction wholeheartedly, Burkart noted that it was important that the showroom still manage to display “a huge spectrum of lights.” In turn, a series of sliding panels allows for additional lights to be pulled into focus as needed. “But you’re not seeing 50 sconces all at once — you’re seeing two or three,” he says. A smart lighting control system powered by keeps showroom operations seamless, allowing for easy control of each individual fixture from an iPad. “The wiring is very simple, and they can easily change out the lights however many times they want,” Baig explains. Assaly and Jamie Bishop, LightForm’s VP of Sales, selected the store’s current mix of fixtures. “She was a critical project collaborator,” notes Baig.
Baig says that one of her favourite details is the store’s leather-wrapped columns. For her, they’re an echo of what makes the best lighting designs so captivating. “It’s a moment of unexpected materiality where we take something basic — a steel column — and wrap it in leather to give it that extra layer,” she says. Rather than just showcasing products, LightForm Vancouver captures the true spirit of lighting design.
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