January 30, 2015
Congratulations to RAPT for winning Interior Design’s Best of Year Award for the Large Tech Office Category! It was a pleasure working with them on the tech-giant’s newest Orange County location, where each light fixture is individually controllable and also tracks its own usage data, which together create a considerable amount of information across the 91,000 sqft office. Connecting the different floors of the office is a a steel staircase wrapped in perforated acrylic, which catches the light of RGB LED’s running the entire length of the vertical centerpiece. The Google engineers themselves wrote a program based on the Arduino platform to change the LED’s colors as a real-time response to the amount of traffic along the staircase.
Now, shifting our focus to the realm of interior design in the online space, enthusiasts seeking a blend of sophistication and style can explore an array of options at our curated store. From contemporary lighting solutions to tasteful decor, our collection seamlessly incorporates elements like copper & tweed furniture, bringing warmth and elegance to any space. Whether you’re looking to enhance your home office or revamp your living area, our carefully curated selection ensures that your surroundings reflect the same level of ingenuity and creativity witnessed in RAPT’s award-winning design. Embrace the allure of copper & tweed as you embark on a journey to redefine your living spaces with the same passion and innovation that garnered RAPT its well-deserved accolades in the tech office design realm.
December 23, 2014
Oculus Principal Archit Jain was featured in online lighting design magazine Illumni on 2014 – The Year That Was. Was it brilliant? Was it disappointing? Was it treacherous? Was it unrelenting? Per Archit it was a great year, with growth, exciting projects, awards, fun, and things to learn.
More at: http://www.illumni.co/2014-the-year-that-was-by-archit-jain-principal-oculus-light-studio/
November 20, 2014
Special thanks and congratulations to our architect friends at Shubin + Donaldson for all of our great work on Murad’s first flagship store, recognized as one of “The Most Beautiful New Stores in L.A.”
A combination of recessed linear fluorescent downlights, recessed adjustable accents, and tracklights provide a bright and clean clinical feel without the cold institutional look and with all the warmth of a lifestyle retail store.
October 22, 2014
Oculus is proud to be a supporter of IALD’s LightPlay at the 2014 Enlighten Americas conference held this year in San Diego, California. Light Play gives students hands-on experience, with the activities varying every year from designing and building light fixtures, to analyzing local exceptional architectural lighting projects, which was this year’s Light Play exercise. It looks like the students (and seasoned professionals involved) had a great time, and we’re happy to be a part of this learning experience!
continued→
October 10, 2014
We’re happy and honored to announce that after winning three awards at IES Lumen West (Los Angeles Section), a number of our projects have won at the IES Illumination National Level as well:
Awards of Merit for AKA Beverly Hills (Interior and Exterior)
Award of Merit for AT&T Store of the Future Prototype
Award of Merit for Conill
continued→
October 3, 2014
Oculus participated in the International Association of Lighting Designers’ Chase the Dark event on October 2nd, 2014. It was fun and festivities at Santa Monica Beach in the mild Southern California weather. Sunset was beautiful as were the lanterns crafted by the participants out of one LED module and sheets of paper.
Inspired by Cape Gooseberries, Oculus’ Sarah Wang’s contribution utilized the white paper, strings and amber color gels.
continued→
October 1, 2014
Our design for AKA Beverly Hill has been featured in the Lighting Today’s July-September issue. Lighting Today is an architectural lighting magazine based in Singapore, and our project appears on page 77 . Click here to read more about the boutique hotel and get a behind-the-scenes look!
September 23, 2014
We’re proud to announce that our very own designer Jane You has won an IALD scholarship as an Emerging Lighting Design Professional to attend the IALD Enlighten Americas 2014 conference in San Diego this October. She will be sponsored by one of many lighting manufacturers who, as members of the Lighting Industry Resource Council, have pledged to “financially support designers within their first five years of on-the-job practice to attend [the conference]” as part of the Emerging Lighting Designers Initiative, which makes it possible for lighting design practices to send their junior staff to continuing education and professional training conferences. Congratulations to Jane, and many thanks to the LIRC for supporting our emerging designers!
September 12, 2014
If you’ve driven by the old Macy’s building in Downtown LA recently, you’ll know that it’s undergoing a major renovation. Construction is right on schedule for the BLOC to open in 2015 as Downtown’s newest, hippest city centerpiece. We’ve been working with Studio One Eleven architects, EPT Design landscape architects, and The Ratkovich Company to create a fresh look for what Angelenos are expecting to be the next big thing in revitalizing LA’s urban lifestyle. With plans to (literally) tear off the glass ceiling and include indie/classic theater Alamo Drafthouse as well as a long-coveted Trader Joe’s, the BLOC will also be home to a new Metro portal connecting to the subway stop across the street.
continued→
September 4, 2014
We’re excited that Philips is extending the Hue line beyond lamps and strips to 3d printed luminaires. And in the process also educating the general public on what a luminaire is. Engadget published an article on the topic. We’ve had fun playing with the Hue line, and recently used some in our Conill project where it becomes a low cost, interactive way to bring dynamic color to an office space.
So do remember that a lamp (aka a light bulb), fixture housing, and diffusing medium together make a “luminaire”. Or in Engadget’s words, “…an enclosed light fitting, like a table lamp or a pendant light is technically called a luminaire.” Here’s to the next lighting fixture luminaire schedule.
August 27, 2014
We are a growing, award-winning lighting design firm located in Santa Monica, California. We are looking for a full time, entry to mid-level lighting designer to join our talented team and work on a variety of exciting projects located locally, nationally and around the globe.
continued→
August 23, 2014
The second Pirch store designed by Oculus opened in Dallas this week and was covered in the Dallas News. Good aiming at the end of the project is critical, and like the last time, Scott and David spent a total of 24 hours climbing up and down ladders to aim the approximately 1000 adjustable lights in the store (that’s about 500 times each, if you do the math).
continued→
August 6, 2014
Congratulations to The Actors’ Equity Association for opening their first audition center on the West Coast! Oculus was commissioned to design the lighting for the converted warehouse in the North Hollywood Arts District where the union representing stage actors, as reported by the LA Times, now has warm-up and audition rooms, mirrored and ballet-barred dance floors, and private changing rooms in its 18,700 square foot space.
Built in 1948, the warehouse which was once used as as bus depot, has 30-ft high bow truss ceilings with skylights. While the skylights provided a generous amount of light, they became concentrated points of light in the ceiling that made the rest of the space feel dark in contrast. New suspended linear fluorescent fixtures help reduce this contrast and bridge the gap between the lower and higher lighting levels of the warehouse, making a more visually comfortable and enjoyable environment.
July 8, 2014
Congratulations to the design team for CRL Nantong’s World Architecture News Award in the Unbuilt Commercial category! We are proud to be partners with MulvannyG2 on this large-scale project.
According to the WAN editorial statement, “The winning scheme in Nantong incorporates retail, office space and entertainment facilities (including an ice skating rink and a cinema), set over narrow but lengthy 500m-long site, encompassing nearly 300,000 sq m of commercial space. It was highlighted by the jury that the scheme had taken note of the surrounding landscape well in that ‘there’s an intelligent analysis of the city in the detailing’.”
July 1, 2014
Our award-winning lighting design for AKA Beverly Hills has been featured on Illumni.co— click here to see more.
June 25, 2014
We are excited to announce that we recently won the following at the IES Lumen West Awards:
Award of Excellence for Conill
Award of Merit for AT&T Prototype
Award of Merit for YouTube Amphitheatre
continued→
June 6, 2014
Oculus becomes one of the select few lighting designers on the West Coast to win a prestigious IALD award at the 31st annual International Lighting Design Awards. Out of over 200 entries from 10 countries, AKA Beverly Hills was selected as one of five Award of Merit winners for the the way “[it] demonstrates the power of light to transform architectural space,” according to one IALD judge.
We are thrilled at the honor, and hope to continue pushing the envelope in design and technology on our projects. Many thanks to our collaborators, Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Asfour Guzy Architects and Pamela Burton & Company Landscape Lighting. And of course, the AKA team, lead by Larry Korman.
Read the IALD Press Release (pdf download).
June 3, 2014
Oculus Principal Archit Jain was one of three judges representing the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) for the Lightfair Innovation Awards, presented in a ceremony on June 3, 2014 in Las Vegas.
In all, over 250 products were judged by a panel of 7 judges representing the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and the IALD. The products were divided in 14 categories with a top award in each category, and 4 other main awards.
continued→
May 10, 2014
“I make the invisible visible. I give rooms their own soul. Light transforms the building into architecture brought to life.”
There are many such gems in the “I’m a Lighting Designer” film produced by international luminaire manufacturer Erco. While we certainly are a more diverse group, and do have a slightly different accent, we do agree with the general idea.
continued→
Note from Scott
April 7, 2014
By Scott Hatton
Today is the St. Louis Cardinals home opener and as part of the festivities they opened up their new Hall of Fame!
We designed the lighting for the Cardinals Hall of Fame in collaboration with PGAV Architects and the Cardinal’s Organization. Adjustable LED track lighting built into the casework and concealed in the black ceiling grid is carefully aimed at artifacts that bring the history of the Cardinals to life. In a few of the galleries the lighting is programmed to change along with the audio visual program. In these pictures, you can see a replica of the old Busch stadium roof with uplights that change from Anaheuser-Busch blue to Cardinals red when the highlight reel starts.
continued→
