The LiGHT23 expo, staged in London for the second year, stepped up several levels according to the team from specialist architectural LED lighting brand Anolis, which showcased its three current main product lines – Calumma, Ambiane and Eminere – at the lively and buzzing two-day event in Islington’s Business Design Centre.
The show, which launched in 2022, has been developed as a forum and a meeting place for the design community. Manufacturers can demonstrate their latest technologies and lighting designers, architects, interior, exterior and visual designers can gather to see the latest innovations and attend a full programme of talks, panel discussions and seminars embracing topics and issues relevant to the built environment world.
“Visitor numbers were definitely up, especially on the first day, and we saw a steady stream of high-quality people on both days from a broad spectrum of the industry, from lighting designers and architects to integrators, installers and end users,” commented Ashley Popple, Anolis’s London & Southeast business development manager.
He added, “Apart from a great buzz, it was also a convincing networking event at which we saw existing clients and made plenty of new contacts, also providing some excellent opportunities to touch base with a range of busy industry professionals who are sometimes difficult to otherwise pin down!”
The first night ‘social’ and late opening offered less formal but equally valuable social engagement time, and Ashley felt that the extended opening hours also drew many people for the show, allowing them to work around busy schedules.
The elegant new Anolis stand design created for the expo reflected the brand’s streamlined approach to presentation and the growing importance of having products accompanied by meaningful information as well as eye-catching settings. A large video wall at the back of the stand featured specially created rolling content relevant to all products and their applications.
An elegant new sloping Eminere stand display located to the side of the booth showed off the four different lengths of this low-profile linear LED fixture, and Eminere proved a star product here getting plenty of interest and enquiries.
As with all Anolis products, numerous lensing and light engine options are offered with Eminere. The product is ideal for exterior and interior projects including flood lighting, wall and surface grazing / washing and accent lighting. Being part of the Anolis Lighting family, the Eminere is robustly engineered and tough enough to withstand extreme environments when outside, while indoor suitability brings additional flexibility to the range.
Visitors liked the combined power & data connection system, the single and multi-chip versions, and the general versatility.
The Ambiane range was also well received. The new stand design enabled three different pendant formats of Ambiane to be displayed hanging at the side, and the new layout also had the full Calumma range on display from the smallest to the largest for the five current fixtures.
“The stand really came alive with these three different product ranges being displayed in their entirety,” noted Ashley. “The new Eminere MC and Calumma M with streetlight optics were especially popular, particularly with those requiring very precise optical control, and we have seen some great new opportunities for Ambiane come directly from this event, with specifiers impressed by the power balancing and dimming performance of the range.”
Artistic Licence, like Anolis, also ‘A Robe Business’ related to the Czech lighting manufacturer Robe lighting s.r.o., showed a selection of its neat and most recent lighting control products and solutions which are popular with numerous systems integrators and installers.
The stand was designed as a ‘zero-to-landfill’ concept, made from fully reusable materials to underline Anolis’ historic and ongoing commitment to sustainability which was one of the founding principles of the brand when launched in 2005.
While the visitors checking out Anolis were primarily from the UK, there was a definite increase in overseas contacts from last year’s show, all of which added to the general vibe and diversity of the expo.
Ashley confirmed that a record-high number of people who had promised in advance to drop by the stand at the show actually rocked up this year, “there was a marked interest generally in the show according to my interactions,” and he has already been able to follow up some positive leads relating to future projects.
Other observations include that the show is currently unique in the UK in focussing on lighting for architecture and built environments, and the idea that all exhibitors have similar stand spaces to utilise, avoids the hall being dominated by large stands that block the visibility of others.
The strong focus on talks and seminars running in parallel addressing pertinent topics emphasised the popularity – and demand – for discussion and educational approaches to certain aspects of how light affects us and is fundamental to everyday living, working and experiential events.
Theresa Gibson, head of marketing for Anolis in the UK commented, “It was great to be back and exhibiting at LiGHT23 with its extended exhibition floor space and new features over two busy and productive show days.
“We were delighted to showcase our Calumma, Ambiane and Eminere ranges on the newly designed stand, where the video wall backdrop generated some great feedback and enquiries from across the sector.
LiGHT23 was a perfect platform to reconnect with customers and associates and for establishing new contacts resulting in some interesting enquiries.”
Photo: © Paula Duck