SPEIRS MAJOR LIGHT ARCHITECTURE

02/26 | Article for Building Design

13/02/2026: We are featured in an article for Building Design.

By Mary Richardson

Architectural lighting designers are under increased pressure to meet apparently incompatible demands: the desire for ever-greater spectacle on the one hand, and mounting concern about energy use, light pollution and environmental impact on the other. To understand how the profession is responding to this tension, we spoke to Keith Bradshaw, CEO of Speirs Major, whose practice has spent three decades at the forefront of architectural lighting design

Speirs Major is known for high-profile projects ranging from the Millennium Dome and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to Elephant Park and Battersea Power Station. With an office in Tokyo and completed projects across China, the Middle East and Europe, the studio’s work spans infrastructure, public realm, heritage and large-scale lighting masterplanning.

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As Bradshaw explains it, the core challenge today is learning how to do more with less. “People still want great atmosphere, great image, great character, great memories,” he says. “But that needs to be done with less energy, less resources.”

Recent projects include the British Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, where a perforated facade was animated at night to reveal a rippling Union Jack; and the lighting of the Dom tower in Utrecht, where a temporary art installation evolved into a magical permanent scheme that illuminates the building’s beautiful gothic architectural detail, largely from within. In China, at the Xi’an central and cultural business district, the Speirs Major team highlighted detailing in the Heatherwick-masterplanned design and subtly uplit the tree-shaped vertical park that is the centrepiece of the scheme, revealing its sculptural form to great effect.

You can read the full article here.

Speirs Major

light-architecture

02/26 | Article for Building Design

“As Bradshaw explains it, the core challenge today is learning how to do more with less. “People still want great atmosphere, great image, great character, great memories,” he says. “But that needs to be done with less energy, less resources.”

“
As Bradshaw explains it, the core challenge today is learning how to do more with less. “People still want great atmosphere, great image, great character, great memories,” he says. “But that needs to be done with less energy, less resources.”