November 1, 2016
Three Oculus Designers are in Miami this week aiming for the expansive Saks Fifth Avenue at the Brickell City Centre, and while we cannot yet share photos of the space, we can share these photos of Miami, below. Keep an eye out for the coming articles on what looks to be a star-studded opening!
October 18, 2016
We are proud to announce that the REI flagship store located in Washington DC in the historic neighborhood near Union Station is opening it’s doors this week! We have had the opportunity to work on a few different REI locations with CallisonRTKL, but this store was really special with high concrete ceilings, a unique outdoor meeting area complete with string lights, and a coffee shop-like feel that the designers hope will inspire customers to sit and “plan their next adventure”. The lighting was designed to be unique to the store, but still carry consistent elements from new REI stores from around the country with the inclusion of LED high-bays and LED track lighting.
October 14, 2016
The Autry Museum of the American West recently opened a new exhibition called “California Continued” that consists of two renovated gallery spaces and 7,000 square foot outdoor space where the former Gene Autry backlot has been transformed in a new ethnobotanical teaching garden. The garden is home to over 60 plants that are native to the state, but also includes information on the history of how native peoples used the plants in their everyday lives. Designed by Matthew Kennedy of Costello Kennedy Landscape Architecture with the help of Native American elders, authors, professors and museum experts, who all worked to ensure that each intentional plant selection works with the content in the two new gallery exhibitions “Human Nature” and “The Life and Work of Mabel McKay”. This dedication to research is reflected the interactive displays that help visitors appreciate how each plant in the garden relates to California’s various micro-climates.
September 26, 2016
One of our mixed use projects was recently featured on CNN.com in a story that covered the large-scale renovation of the historic block in downtown Los Angeles. The renovation does indeed cover an entire city block, transforming it into a lifestyle center created around the concept of “urban interaction”. Designed in conjunction with The Ratkovich Company, Studio One Eleven, and EPT Design, The Bloc is one of the largest mixed use complexes in all of Los Angeles and will feature a variety of retail shops, restaurants, offices, and even residential space. The heart of the project is a green lawn that serves as a meeting area for the community and features large suspended catenary lights overhead. Down below, linear lighting inspired by the trains themselves lead patrons to a stop on the newly-opened Los Angeles Metro, adding a new level to the forward-thinking design inspired by the future of LA urban life.
Take a moment to view the video of this exciting new project on CNN.
September 14, 2016
Oculus Principal Scott Hatton was invited by Designer’s Lighting Forum to lead a walking tour of The Point, a unique center-facing lifestyle center located in El Segundo. The space was designed to simulate a sort of “community living room” with warm lighting and a multitude of gathering spaces for a variety of events. The tour lasted about an hour and included a Q & A segment, in which Scott discussed not only the technical aspects of the fixtures themselves, but also the design process that goes into designing an outdoor space. Turnout was great, and we are pleased that we’ve already been asked to take part in a second tour on another of our projects!
Thank you to DLF for the fun opportunity to shed some light (pun intended) on our process as lighting designers!
August 24, 2016
Oculus got a nod in today’s article posted by Louis Poulsen on The Point, a shopping center with a unique inward facing design that creates a meeting area for the community.
We like working with Louis Poulsen because their products have a classic, international look with performance to match. In addition, they have a strong local presence and are responsive and easy to work with, two qualities that are always appreciated.
Check out some close ups of their fixtures, and make sure to read their article in its entirety on their site.
The Point
Louis Poulsen Lighting
August 8, 2016
This week Joel Weston visited Fox Valley Mall, close to Chicago, for an on-site aiming on the first of many Finish Line Stores that we are designing lighting for in conjunction with CallisonRTKL. We really appreciate the opportunity to work on the store redesigns, as our work will be all over the country!
The lighting design for all store renovations features overhead narrow linear LED pendants inspired by athletic running track lanes. The effect is twofold; the eye is drawn into the store, and this provides plenty of ambient lighting to the merchandise below. The pendants were specially configured with reduced wattage, to not overly light the space and be code compaint in energy stringent jurisdictions, while keeping the density for visual effect. Another goal in the design of the stores was to be as cost effective and maintenance friendly as possible, so only 3 varieties of LED luminaires fixtures are used throughout for maximum effect.
So whether you’re inspired by Usain Bolt or Allyson Felix or just tired of sitting on the couch watching the Olympics, now’s the time to visit a store and get started! There is a store coming close to you, so there are no excuses.
August 1, 2016
Oculus was featured in the July/August issue of Mondo Arc India Magazine in an article featuring our lighting design for the Google Orange County offices. The issue, which covers workplace environments and dubs the office an “Innovative Playground”, states that “Rapt Studio worked closely with Oculus Light Studio to create the Google office in Orange County which is less of a corporate office and more of a playing field for innovation and interaction; a universal nod to local context.”
July 25, 2016
It’s been a busy summer here in the studio, and we are now able share some projects on the site! We’ve been lucky to work on the lighting design for some wonderfully unique private residences located right here in Los Angeles. All have been designed by renowned architects, including SPF:architects, SAOTA, and McClean Design. All are modern in design and capitalize on the beautiful natural surroundings of the area. In contrast, The Point is a large lifestyle center with landscape designed by Lifescapes International, and with a different approach to design that creates an intimate community feel. Enjoy, below!
July 19, 2016
Oculus designers Chao-Wei Su and Spurthy Yogananda have both been selected as Emerging Lighting Designers and awarded scholarships to attend the IALD Enlighten Americas Conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. IALD describes the conference as “Offering a global perspective to educational sessions, the conference program will offer 21 inspirational and informational sessions in three concurrent tracks, featuring 35 confirmed architectural lighting design experts from nine countries”.
These are the third and fourth scholarships won by Oculus designers in the past few years, the first having gone to Jane You in 2014 and the second to Sarah Wang in 2015. Congratulations to Chao-Wei and Spurthy, and thank you to all of the sponsors for the opportunity for young designers to continue to grow and learn within the industry!
July 15, 2016
Lido Marina Village is a shopping center located in Newport Beach, CA. We began work on the project in Early 2014, focusing specifically on helping to create an exterior ambiance that would match the high end retail stores that developers brought down from Los Angeles. The resulting vibe is high end luxury whose restaurants and fitness developments also serve as a community meeting ground.
The shopping center is now open, and shopping media site Racked has taken notice, describing the updates as a “Fashionable facelift”. Click here for the article and enjoy a multitude of pictures including both exteriors and interiors of the shops!
July 15, 2016
We’re happy and honored to announce that after winning three awards at IES Illumination National Level:
Award of Merit for Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill
Award of Merit for CIM Group
Award of Merit for Google Orange County Energy and Environmental Design
Award of Merit for Google Orange County
Award of Merit for Murad
July 1, 2016
One of our resort projects, the Monarch Beach Resort, posted a video today that beautifully highlights the casual elegance of the resort. Oculus principal Archit Jain had the unique experience of working on the original construction in 2001, then again recently on the pool deck redesign with WATG. This luxurious oceanfront hotel was designed as a Tuscan villa and named after the Monarch Butterfly Migration that the area is famous for. The lighting was designed with low level accents and selective highlighting of the vast 172 acre landscape areas. The result is lighting that reflects the casual but romantic atmosphere that does not detract from the natural landscape or the company that guests share the experience with.
June 29, 2016
We are excited to announce that we recently won the following at the IES Lumen West Awards:
Award of Merit for Google Orange County Energy and Environmental Design
Award of Merit for Google Orange County
Award of Merit for Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill
June 27, 2016
This Saturday was the annual Lumen West Awards put on by the Los Angeles and Orange County Sections of the Illuminated Engineering Society. This year’s theme was “Under the Big Top”, and guests were welcomed into The Wiltern by juggling mimes, zebra-like stilt walkers, carnival lights, and even vintage circus music!
Oculus was one of the big winners of the night, taking home 3 Lumen West Awards of Merit for interior lighting design for Google Orange County and Blue Ribbon Sushi, and also an Energy and Environmental Design award for Google Orange County.
We are honored to be recognized by our peers, and we would like to thank all our collaborators who have made this possible. This includes our clients who have trusted us with their projects, and our reps and manufacturers who have worked closely with us to get the drawings to reality.
May 25, 2016
Officine Brera is a beautiful Italian Restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles designed by (fer) Studio inspired by the Brera Design District in Limano, Italy. We had the opportunity to design the lighting for the impressive space in which warm colors highlight wooden features and unique fixtures invite the eye. Now that it is open, the restaurant is garnering rave reviews right and left but has also been awarded a new honor: it is officially a 2016 AIA LA Restaurant Design Award Finalist!
See the official announcement HERE and make sure the vote for them HERE. It was such a wonderful project to work on, and we were so happy for the opportunity to help bring this fantastic space to life. Congrats to Christopher Mercier at (fer)Studio, and to all who worked on the project.
May 20, 2016
Architectural Digest covered the store opening of one of our most recent finished projects, the Pirch store located in the chic SOHO neighborhood of New York City. “Located on the corner of Lafayette and Broome Streets, the interactive showroom cum test center encompasses three sprawling floors, each outfitted with realistic home vignettes in which a slew of appliances (from trusted manufacturers like Bertazzoni, Miele, La Cornue, Viking, and Thermador) can be tested.” The article goes on to describe a unique VIP opening party in which celebrity guests oversaw the creation of dishes that were created right on the working showroom floor, giving such sparkling reviews as “This is the most fabulous store I have been in, in all my 94 years. It’s so nice that service is coming back. Everything is so gorgeous”(Iris Apfel, designer, businesswoman, and fashion icon).
May 16, 2016
REI is a unique company that offers a way to get in touch with nature by providing gear and travel opportunities. Working alongside the retail architect, CallisonRTKL, with whom we have collaborated on many projects over the years, the lighting design plan adapted to the new store design guidelines while complementing the modern and rustic aesthetic that the brand is known for. The new lighting utilized controls that can monitor and integrate the lighting levels with natural daylight cohesively in the space.
April 29, 2016
This week was a busy one with multiple site and aiming visits, but the team was still able to take the opportunity to drive down to Lightfair International 2016 in San Diego, California for a walk around the convention center floor to view all of the latest and greatest luminaires available from most of the major lighting manufacturers in the industry. But Lightfair isn’t just a large showroom, it is also a place where lighting industry professionals can learn, network, attend panels to inspire new ideas, and even interact with students who are just breaking into the industry. We had the opportunity to attend the 2016 IALD Awards Dinner at the San Diego Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park. The Awards Ceremony recognizes lighting design from all over the world and is one of the most prestigious lighting design awards, so we were very fortunate to be hosted by Wattstopper, Cooledge, Edison Price, Eaton, and Wiedenbach Brown Lighting. We won an IALD award a couple of years back, and we hope for a repeat performance soon!
April 28, 2016
After a week of climbing ladders and aiming thousands of lights, Saks Fifth Avenue at the Houston Galleria is open to the public! Their official opening event featured exclusive areas such as the Gucci Beauty department (one of only five in North America), cocktails, food by celebrity chef Stefon Rishel, and live music. We were so excited to work with Saks on both the exteriors and interiors in order to renovate the new 198,000 SF space to create the cornerstone of the new “Luxury Wing” of the Houston Galleria, and we are thrilled at the positive feedback we’ve received from them since!