5 Lighting Designers You Need to Know

Decorative lighting is one of the most important aspects of any interior design project, it immediately sets the mood for a space and provides opportunities to add drama and whimsy. As San Francisco interior designers we are continually inspired by the incredible talents in the lighting design industry, both locally and abroad. From the art of glass blowing to seamlessly integrating LEDs into sleek forms, these innovative artists are pushing the boundaries of handmade, bespoke lighting for the luxury residential market. We will admit that it was an arduous task to choose just five contemporary lighting designers to highlight…we hope you enjoy their work as much as we do!

Niamh Barry

Niamh Barry was born in Dublin, Ireland, where she still works and lives. Barry creates unique light sculptures predominantly in bronze and LED. As one of only eight international artists selected to showcase innovative lighting designs in London’s Luxcraft in 2011, Barry is recognized as an early adopter and innovator in the use of LED technology. We originally encountered Niamh’s stunning, sculptural LED fixtures at the FOG Design + Art show in San Francisco and were blown away! The polished brass fixtures are the perfect jewelry for your modern home.

John Pomp Studios

With an attentive eye for beauty and an unwavering discipline for craft, John Pomp has spent over 20 years perfecting the art of making glass. Classically trained in the Murano glass tradition, but inspired by the organic imperfections found in nature, John’s furniture and lighting pieces reflect the sophistication and beauty of a true artist.

We love John’s beautiful, organically shaped modern lighting – his designs have just the right balance of wabi-sabi (perfectly imperfect) and contemporary forms. Simple, elegant and never overly-designed, his collection is one of our go-tos. All of John Pomps fixtures are designed and fabricated in his 65,000 square foot studio in Philadelphia.

Alison Berger Glassworks

Born in Dallas, Texas, Alison Berger has been blowing glass since the age of fifteen. Berger fuses nature and architecture to create unique, iconic pieces. She received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and then continued her studies at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture. Each piece is hand blown, annealed for two to three days, and then hand-finished and, in some cases, hand-etched. Her innovative work is in the permanent collection of the Corning Museum of Glass and has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. You can find Alison’s work at Holly Hunt, where her collaboration has spanned twenty years.

Bec Brittain

Bec Brittain founded her studio in Brooklyn in 2011, designing and producing the critically-acclaimed SHY light – a geometric, modern LED fixture that embraces negative space. All of her designs are made in New York using a variety of techniques and a network of local fabricators and artisans, and every piece is assembled by hand in the studio under Bec’s supervision. We recently installed a SHY fixture in the kids hangout room in our Jackson Square project – check it out here!

Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert

Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert is an acclaimed glassblower who creates contemporary works made of glass and brass, intended for professionals and lovers of fine handmade objects and luxury decoration, both in France and around the world. Jeremy’s creations are all freehand-blown, without the use of a mold. Elegant, sensual, often colorful and always luminous, they combine tradition and modernity. We could image these ethereal, delicate Cloud fixtures in a grand foyer or a formal dining room.