Solus Lumi — Project Case Study

Project: The TriBeCa Vault | Private Residence, New York

Location: New York, USA

Design Partner: Anna Afshar

Completed: Q1, 2018

The Brief

The client — a private homeowner in Manhattan‘s TriBeCa neighborhood — was completing a gut renovation of a historic loft building. The architecture featured exposed brick, 12-meter ceilings, and oversized factory windows. The design called for lighting that was bold, sculptural, and unapologetically postmodern — a rejection of minimalism in favor of color, playfulness, and architectural gesture.

The designer‘s vision was specific: a simple color glass stone staircase pendant descending through the central void, complemented by a series of custom wall lights and a statement ceiling light in the main living area.

Standard chandelier light fixture and pendant light options could not achieve this level of color variation or sculptural ambition. The project demanded a fully custom, handcrafted solution.

Our Solution

Solus Lumi collaborated with the lighting designer and the New York architecture team to create a cohesive postmodern lighting narrative across three fixture types — each custom-designed, each handcrafted, each uniquely expressive.

The Collection Overview:

Fixture Type Quantity Primary Materials Custom Element

Staircase Pendant 1 (multi-point) Hand-blown glass stones + brass 3m drop, 7 colors, 42 individual glass stones

Wall Light (Sconce) 8 Hand-blown glass + brushed brass Sculptural forms — each slightly asymmetrical

Living Room Pendant 2 Hand-blown glass discs + patinated brass Overscale, overlapping discs

The Signature Piece — 3-Meter Glass Stone Staircase Pendant

The centerpiece of the project is a three-meter vertical installation suspended through the open staircase void — visible from all four floors of the residence.

Key Specifications:

Aspect Execution

Total Height 9 meters

Number of Glass Stones 420 individual pieces

Color Palette 7 custom colors — amber, crystal

Stone Dimensions Varying — from 5cm to 6cm in length

Structure Hand-forged brass frame with concealed cabling

Light Source Warm-dim LED (2700K) integrated from the canopy

Design Concept:

The glass stones are arranged in a graduated, non-repeating sequence — largest at the bottom, smallest at the top, colors shifting gradually as the eye travels upward. From certain angles, the stones appear to float independently. From others, they merge into a single cascading form — a frozen waterfall of colored glass.

Craftsmanship:

Each glass stone was hand-blown in our atelier — no molds, no two identical

Colors were custom-formulated to match the designer‘s palette

Each stone was individually mounted on a concealed brass armature