Speirs Major Light Architecture (SMLA) (formerly Speirs + Major, Speirs and Major Associates) is a UK lighting design practice founded by Jonathan Speirs (1958-2012) and Mark Major in 1993. The practice is noted for its illumination of many prominent buildings, including Barajas International Airport, 30 St Mary Axe (âÂÂThe GherkinâÂÂ), the Millennium Dome and the interior of St. Pauls Cathedral. The firm has also developed lighting master plans for several British cities, including Cambridge, Coventry, Durham, Newcastle, and for major private developments including Greenwich Peninsula and KingâÂÂs Cross Central, London.
Speirs Major has been credited with helping to raise awareness of the lighting design profession in the UK. Today it employs approximately 38 people drawn from disciplines including architecture, art, lighting, interior, graphic and theatrical design. Its studios are based in London, UK and Tokyo, Japan.
Both founding members Jonathan Speirs, who died on 18 June 2012, and Mark Major trained and practiced as architects before focusing on lighting design. In interviews they argued that light should be embedded at the heart of the architectural design process rather than applied as a âÂÂcosmetic add-onâÂÂ. This integral approach to light led them to adopt the term âÂÂlighting architectâ to describe their role as âÂÂbuilding with light as opposed to bricks and mortarâÂÂ. Keith Bradshaw was appointed as a principal in 2009, and the studio was rebranded as Speirs + Major in August 2010, with the studio at that time terming themselves as 'designers who work with light' to reflect the breadth of skill in their team and to encompass their work that included not only lighting architecture, but strategy and branding projects as well as product and innovation. On 24 November 2020, the studio announced a change in name and brand identity to SPEIRS MAJOR LIGHT ARCHITECTURE to reflect their evolution from an atelier practice to a broader organisation headed by several Partners under the creative directorship of Keith Bradshaw and Mark Major. Moving away from 'designers working with light' they instated use of the term "Light Architecture" to better reflect their design ethos, describing themselves as having a "fascination with light, form, space and time." and a desire to "progressively and responsibly use light to improve the experience of the built environment, promote well-being and generate a unique sense of place.âÂÂ
<br/>RIBA Stirling Prize collaborations <br/>Speirs Major have designed lighting for a number of buildings that have either won or been nominated for the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture.
Stirling Prize winners:
Stirling Prize shortlisted projects:
In 2006 Jonathan Speirs and Mark Major authored the book Made of Light: The Art of Light and Architecture, a series of visual essays on lighting design. The book is co-authored by Anthony Tischhauser and published by Swiss architectural publisher Birkhäuser.