Azusa, Calif.—Orgatech, the leader in indirect lighting, has signed a unique partnership agreement with BPS Leuchten-Systeme GmbH. Based in Blomberg, Germany, BPS is an organization similar in size to Orgatech but has focused their attention on engineering due to their partner’s lighting engineering background. Like Orgatech, BPS has worked extensively to convert the ideas of renowned architects into lighting reality. This landmark agreement enables Orgatech to accept and complete large-scale custom lighting projects in record time, without impacting their day-to-day production commitments. In addition, this will facilitate the re-development of Orgatech’s existing project range, to the design-to-manufacture agreement—under which 80 percent of Orgatech’s design and development will be carried out in Germany, with manufacture in the U.S. This type of working relationship is believed to be unique among West Coast-based companies and enables Orgatech to continue to work closely with the architectural community, responding to emerging design needs.
The first major architectural project undertaken by the partnership is Eleanor Roosevelt College at the University of California, San Diego, designed by Safdie/Rabines Architects. The $80 million campus expansion is slated for completion in August 2003. A major challenge for Orgatech and BPS was to develop high-performance lighting—fluorescent with halogen accents—that could be suspended in long rows on the curved wood ceiling of the student dining room. Laurence St. Ives, owner and president of Orgatech, compares the project to, “manufacturing Porsches in Southern California.”
The Orgatech-BPS partnership will spur redevelopment of Orgatech’s existing product range to meet the design and production standards set by the new products. Among the special capabilities BPS offers is the production of oversized extrusions for lighting fixtures, which was be linked to form building elements with a structural.
Orgatech and BPS recently introduced the latest generation of light-guiding luminaries, winning the Product of the Year Award for the Indirect Lighting category at Lightfair International 2003. BPS has already proven the extraordinary lengths it will go to exceed its partner’s expectations. During an early morning meeting in Germany discussing future designs for the US, St. Ives suggested a modification to an already prototyped design. New drawings were completed by lunchtime, along with a new prototype.