Nicola Agresta
Nicola Agresta is an awarded Senior Lighting Designer with more than 10 years of experience.
Many of his projects have won or been nominated for prestigious architectural, interior and lighting design awards, and he also had the honour to have been nominated for the 40under40 young talent in lighting design class 2018. His big interests are art and design, sustainability and technology. He now works as Senior Lighting Designer for Foster+Partners in the Specialist Modelling Group (SMG), an interdisciplinary group that focusses on Complex Geometry, Building Physics and Innovation for projects within the practice, but also have collaborative researches with universities and industry partners, exploring far-reaching ideas like light perception in VR to extra-planetary light condition simulations.”
Ruth Kelly Waskett
Ruth is a lighting consultant with a background in lighting design, engineering, and academia. She’s driven by the need to champion great lighting in buildings, with a focus on integrating natural and artificial light. She has a particular interest in the real-life issues associated with automated building technology, particularly those that offer daylight and lighting control. She also has an interest in the use of immersive technologies to help understand the impact of design decisions.
Ruth was President of the Society of Light & Lighting (SLL) in 2021-22, a part of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). She is a regular contributor at events in the Lighting and Built Environment industries. In 2022 she spoke at Hoare Lea’s flagship event, Designing the Future at the Royal Institution. Her talk, Blurred Lines, addressed the topic of how immersive technology and the metaverse could transform our understanding of reality and help us to design better.
Ruth has contributed to several lighting guidance documents produced by CIBSE, SLL and others. She is a Board member of CIBSE and a visiting lecturer at University College London, with involvement in the MSc in Light & Lighting and MEng in Engineering & Architectural Design. Ruth was a winner in the Engineering category of the 2022 Women in Lighting Awards.
Kevan Shaw
With a rich legacy spanning over 40 years, Kevan Shaw has been a stalwart in the field of lighting design. His illustrious journey commenced in the realm of stage lighting, where he lent his creativity to a diverse array of projects, including television and industrial shows. Transitioning seamlessly, Kevan ventured into exhibition and architectural lighting design, eventually establishing KSLD in 1989.
Kevan's passion for lighting extends to education. He has left an indelible mark on the industry through his educational endeavors. He imparted his expertise at renowned institutions like Hoschule, Wismar, and Napier University, Edinburgh, where he contributed significantly to the Lighting Design Masters program. Moreover, his commitment transcends geographical boundaries, with his distance learning course at the Technical University of Iceland.
Serving as the Director of Sustainability for the PLDA from 2008 to 2011, Kevan actively contributed to lighting matters within European legislation. His advocacy persists through his association with the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), where he was inducted into the IALD College of Fellows in 2018. A dedicated member of the IALD Board of Directors between 2014 and 2018 , Kevan continues to shape the industry's trajectory.
Kevan's brilliance has been celebrated through various prestigious awards. Notably, he was awarded the title of Lighting Designer of the Year at the LUX Awards in 2013, a testament to his outstanding contributions. In 2019, he received the inaugural LIT Lighting Design Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, acknowledging his lasting impact on the field.
As the Design Director at EFLA | KSLD Lighting Design, Kevan maintains a supervisory and executive role, ensuring that each project carries his distinct creative signature. His influence continues to drive innovation and excellence within the industry.
Kevan Shaw's journey encapsulates a profound dedication to lighting design, education, and sustainability. His transformative impact and unyielding commitment stand as an inspiration to all aspiring lighting enthusiasts.
Keith Bradshaw
Keith Bradshaw is CEO and co-owner of Speirs Major. With more than two decades of project experience, Keith works internationally whilst based in the UK. His work is wide-ranging in type and scale encompassing lighting for architecture and urban design.
The projects Keith leads are notable for their diversity of scale and type from civic buildings, boutique and commercial retail spaces, performance venues, public spaces, and commercial projects. An education both fine art and architecture allowed Keith the opportunity to develop ideas where materials became less important than the atmosphere and experience of space: this led naturally to working with light. His passion and expertise in creating experiences for people through light is evident in the successful outcome of the projects.
With more than two decades of project experience, he works internationally whilst based in the UK. His work is wide-ranging in type and scale encompassing lighting for architecture and urban design. The projects Keith leads are notable for their diversity of scale and type from civic buildings, boutique and commercial retail spaces, performance venues, public spaces and commercial projects. His passion and expertise in creating experiences for people through light is evident in the successful outcome of the projects. Keith has led many of the practice’s award winning international and UK projects, including 2 co-directed IALD Radiance Award winning projects – the Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi in 2010 and In Lumine Tuo, Utrecht in 2014.
The Lighting Design Award UK Practice of the Decade, awarded on 2012, recognised the achievements and aspirations of Speirs + Major as an ambassador for lighting design. Keith was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2013 for his work with light. He regularly publishes articles on light in architecture, sits on design juries and has been a keynote speaker at design conferences around the world. He has also lectured extensively and taught practical workshops to a range of students and fellow professionals.
Keith formed Speirs Major in 2010 with Mark Major which grew out of Speirs and Major Associates. Speirs Major are recognised as being one of the world’s leading lighting design practices, using light and darkness to enhance the experience of the visual environment.
Simon Kincaid
Simon is an Interior Designer with over 20 years’ industry experience, across residential, hospitality and retail sectors. He brings a great understanding of consumer lifestyle trends to the communal and public areas of all project typologies, often to engage with the wider neighbourhood, as well as creating well detailed desirable homes, hotels and experiential retail experiences. Always with a strong design narrative that generate sense of place and identity. Simon applies intelligent design principles and an eye for detail throughout all stages of design and construction to deliver high-value and desirable finished products.
As with the other Partners, Simon is passionate about building trusted, creative and longstanding collaborative relationships with clients, consultants and suppliers, to deliver forward looking, aspirational finished products with desirable identities. Simon joined Conran and Partners in 2006 and the board in 2016. As a Principal, Simon jointly leads the practice and its overall strategic direction through its UK and Hong Kong studios.
Rachael Flint
With more than a decade’s experience in the lighting industry, Rachael brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Michael Grubb Studio team. Having worked for consultancies in London, Oxfordshire and Sydney, Rachael understands the differing challenges of national and international projects.
She has greatly bolstered the team thanks to her highly organised nature, collaborative approach, exceptional project management skills and attention to detail. As well as spanning continents, Rachael’s experience has ranged from hospitality to residential, cinemas to heritage and commercial developments. Tourism has also played a role in her portfolio, having worked on lighting designs for cruise ships and airports.
Her success has been officially recognised, having been awarded the Young Lighter of the Year accolade and being named as one of the ‘40 under 40’ industry achievers. Broadening her professional reach across the industry, Rachael has been a judge for the Lighting Design Awards and the SLL Young Lighter. She has also spent time assessing papers for PLDC and has delivered a number of PLDC industry talks – including ‘Task Lighting at the Hospital Bed’ and ‘Lighting in Sydney’.
Rachael's knowledge and expertise are underpinned by her education, having secured a BA(Hons) in Architecture from University of Plymouth, and an MSc in Lighting & Lighting from UCL. Rachael is passionate about making lighting more accessible. She also has a keen interest in the impact of lighting on the mood and wellbeing of those interacting with it.
Nick Hickson
THDP was founded by partners Architect Manuela Mannino & Interior Designer Nick Hickson in 2005 - together they have over 50 years of experience. With studios in London and Milan, THDP designs and oversees pioneering projects throughout Europe.
Nick Hickson is British furniture, lighting, and interior designer for more than 34 years. He has worked with high-end interior residential and commercial projects for international clients and developers in exclusive areas of London and worldwide. He has extensive experience with hotel interior architecture, schematic planning, FF&E selection & custom design, and procurement strategies. He has a contemporary approach to traditional manufacturing and combined with his attention to detail, he delivers inspirational award-winning interiors and furnishings.
THDP’s creative teams work comfortably in the demanding discipline of hospitality design. Its approach springs from an endless creative curiosity, theyare not just designers, architects, concept developers, photographers, or communicators – they are all of those and much more. As designers, they are ‘storytellers’, this is the foundation of a clear, appealing, and distinctive concept & narrative, in short, THDP creates evocative interiors, hotels, and restaurants.
THDP creates compelling properties by narrating a coherent concept, one that listens to the soul of the property, the considerations of the owners, and the history of the location. The studio evolves award-winning spaces and extraordinary adventures for hotel guests, creating beautiful hotels, bars & restaurants that thrive on their local culture and heritage. It creates intelligent interiors, plan every detail, and design from first principles to empower prosperity. Welcoming to guests, inspiring their loyalty, and leveraging their enthusiasm by creating word-of-mouth publicity.
Moritz Waldemeyer
Moritz Waldemeyer is an internationally renowned designer based in London. His work occupies a diverse range of creative spaces, from art and product design to fashion and entertainment.
Originally from Germany, Moritz moved to London in 1995 to study engineering at Kings College. He completed his Mechatronics master’s degree in 2001 before making his debut into the design world, enabling interactive show pieces for Swarovski’s Crystal Palace exhibition.
Following his early collaborative work for the likes of Hussein Chalayan and Zaha Hadid, Moritz soon established himself as an independent designer. He held his first two gallery exhibitions “Electric Kid” and “By Royal Appointment” between 2006 and 2007. A year later, Moritz exhibited in MoMA’s Design & the Elastic Mind exhibition. In 2013 his lighting product ‘My New Flame’ was unveiled as part of MoMA’s permanent collection.
Moritz founded his own Studio in 2004, enabling him to work on large-scale, independent projects. In 2016 Nazanin Farahbod joined the studio as partner, contributing her great sense for aesthetic, business acumen and positive energy to every project.
The studio was built on a philosophy of playful experimentation by forging links between technology, art, fashion and design. This approach has resulted in a number of bespoke installations for brands like Audi, Panerai and Rinascente as well as a series of eccentric LED-embedded hats designed in collaboration with Philip Treacy.
The studio has also made its mark in the music industry by creating high-tech, light-studded costumes for a range of a-list clients including U2, Rihanna, and also the London Olympics Handover Ceremony performers. 2017 presented a highlight in this domain, the complete redesign of Jamiroquai’s stage persona in the form of a parametric robotic hat.
The same year, the studio created the new lighting brand “mori.london” via a Kickstarter campaign, as a vehicle to sell innovative lighting products directly online. More recently the studio very successfully entered the domain of automotive design, contributing lighting and parametric design to Bentley’s 100 year anniversary concept car EXP100GT.
Given Moritz and Nazanin’s passion for everything automotive, this area will be one of the main focus points for the studio as the car industry is entering a new era of full electrification.
Matteo Bianchi
Matteo is the inspiring force behind the brand. Always with a smile on his face, Matteo has an eye for quirky details and a passion for bold and balanced design solutions. His bubbly personality allowed him to collaborate with some of the most prestigious clients and unique product design companies in the world. Originally from Venice, Italy, Matteo trained at the University of the Chelsea College of Arts where he now also teaches. Matteo had a dream to become an interior designer 10 years ago: he is now living the dream and successfully leading a global design consultancy.
Sarah Cullen
With a degree in Photography and Journalism, Sarah has always had a strong interest in story telling through various mediums. After graduating, she moved to Manchester, UK, to embark on a new life and professional career in the city, after having grown up in the sleepy countryside of Suffolk. Gathering various work experiences across both creative fields, she landed a new role as Editorial Assistant in 2017 for arc magazine at [d]arc media. Sarah quickly rose up the ranks to become Editor for darc magazine within four years. She is now responsible for content sourcing and creation within the magazine and across its digital platforms. Sarah also plays an active role in [d]arc media's events – the [d]arc awards, LiGHT, and [d]arc sessions. Sarah has an ever-growing passion for interior design and decorative lighting design and continues to immerse herself in the industry to broaden her knowledge and network of industry friends.
