The Vasen Brewing Project: Antler Branch Chandelier

I recently stopped by Vasen Brewing Company with a friend, to share my work with him. It's was so much fun to experience their space, surrounded by so many people! 

Two years ago, we finished the install for Vasen Brewing's custom chandelier. The owner's wanted to bring their unique brewing style from Colorado to Virginia’s well-reputed micro brew culture.  

Creating a custom light fixture is an collaborative experience. Taking the time to get to know who my clients are, how they live and work, are important details to understand, when creating a fixture for them. The end result is as much my creation as theirs! It's such a fulfilling experience to complete a design and know that my clients are happy and inspired by the process of their finished light fixture!  

For Vasen, their visual intent was that the tasting room maintain an energetic outdoor feeling throughout the space by bringing symbolic elements of the outside in. The design challenge was for us to design and build a custom chandelier as the primary lighting fixture over this tasting room.

Our creative process included storytelling and conversations supported by sketches and inspirational photos. Each idea explored the relationship with the other artistic details within the space, including he mural, the natural rock bar, the furniture and the other lighting fixtures positioned inside the brewery. Listening to my client’s needs, established a solid platform for discovery. Our collaboration offered an outcome for the greatest possible artistry.

The materials, finishes and design styles, that helped to define the structure of the Antler Branch Chandelier, led me to our manufacturing partners, Phoenix Handcraft. Kyle Lucia was instrumental in the fabrication of these branches. We worked together, tweaking the shapes of each branch as we built them. My favorite detail throughout the branches are the skeletal ribs seen through breaks on the surface of the branches revealed. (The symbolic growth of the client’s ideas and mission). 

The finished design both supported the experience of being in nature as well as enhanced a mystical component, felt in both the centrally located rock bar and the Stag Mural by Emily Herr. The inclusion of reclaimed materials, specifically the round cast-iron valve handles, (positioned above each light-socket and suspended amongst the branches) metaphorically suggests the initiation of flow, creating brilliance while moving forward with new ideas as well as supports sustainability.

In June of 2017 the fixture was completed and installed for the successful launch of the brewery and tasting room in Scott’s Addition in Richmond Virginia. Vasen Brewing Company has since established itself amongst the community of world-renowned breweries in the neighborhood, city and state.

The positive interaction of community that exists within a space, defines a successful design. Inspiring others, and inviting others to connect with their creative selves, is what inspires all of the custom light fixtures we create.