Leverint: The story behind the London-based lighting studio

LEVERINT is a London-based British lighting studio that offers hand-blown glass architecture and bespoke lighting design, unleashing imagination and creativity, and enabling interior designers and customers to create unique and sophisticated custom lighting. Designed and handcrafted by skilful team, their collections are inspired by the capital’s iconic landmarks and architecture.

Here we chat with one of its founders, Andrew Print, about Leverint’s story so far…

Can you tell us the backstory of Leverint Lighting? When and why was it started?

It all began with a chance meeting and a bit of a lightbulb moment between myself; Andrew, John and his sister Lee! I’d been working as a lighting designer and had found a niche in the market for bespoke lighting that I wanted to explore on my own. John and Lee were experts in the field of glassblowing and owners of a glassblowing studio that’d thrived for over a century.

I’d spent years creating and implementing lighting designs for commercial and residential properties and wanted to take the next step in trying to build a lighting company. Ultimately, we all shared a collection vision of creating high-end lighting fixtures and knew each would bring different strengths to the table, me with my designer expertise and them with their glass artistry, we knew together we could nurture the idea of contemporary lighting paired with authentic finishes and still champion sustainable British craftsmanship through our processes and materials.

In the run-up to April 2021, Covid hit but we persevered and launched Leverint Lighting, a decorative lighting company designed to bring your lighting concepts and visions to life, without having to settle for anything less. We released our own standard range of pendants, wall lights, clusters and chandeliers, whilst catering to custom designs with our bespoke service led by a highly skilled team.

What is unique about your brand?

Complete customisability, high-end quality and the fact our products are all designed and handcrafted in-house really sets us apart from other companies within the industry. The made to order element appeals to our clients because of the exceptional standards and level of personalisation that comes with it.

Everything can be modified which is hugely important for our clientele – the fact they can personalise the type of glass profile, flex or rod, bulb, scale is so freeing and gives them a real chance to dive into their creative potential. We also offer our own substantial standard range of pendant lights, wall lights, IP44 bathroom lights, clusters and chandeliers, which clients can modify to suit their needs.

One of the most unique aspects of our brand is the bespoke design service we offer. From the initial consultation we work alongside you on your lighting, overcoming any architectural limitations, planning and designing a fitting that will work in the intended space.

Clients are offered the opportunity to co-design and the chance to see their lighting being hand-blown by our skilled team within the studio. With a glassblowing heritage of over a hundred years, the heritage and learned techniques are quite something to behold too when visiting behind the scenes.

How do you balance heritage craft with contemporary design and innovation?

So the whole process of our lighting involves authentic, made by hand practises played out by our skilled artisans. They implement century-old techniques passed down by generations and skilled well timed-movements to achieve the finishes we put out with a series of machinery and state of the art technicians for assembly.

Though our craftsmanship retains classic, practised methods we continue to find new means to be eco-efficient and sustainably friendly with the recycling of glass and building pieces that last lifetimes to rid the cycle of re-buying. Our designers balance the heritage craftsmanship by drawing inspiration from contemporary structures, modern buildings and focusing on the ever-evolving natural landscapes within Britain in order to bring about new and exciting design.

They also continue to improve and explore new design programmes alongside their years of design experience. We have the best of both worlds – classic glassblowing and modern, new age design with our own special Leverint twist. Plus, the advantage of having our own studio means we can experiment with new lighting designs and see what works and what doesn’t.

Why is it important to keep manufacturing as much as possible in the UK?

We believe it’s so important to oversee every aspect of our lighting to ensure quality across every part of the lighting build and we can only do that if the whole process remains within our London glassblowing studio. For us it also boils down to transparency with our clients, we promise and pride ourselves on British craftsmanship and British-made lighting that stand the test of time.

We have a very open door policy regarding our process and as previously mentioned often book in clients to experience the glassblowing and experience the commitment and attention to detail we apply to every wall light, every pendant, clusters – you name it. We’re so passionate and committed to UK manufacturing we partnered up with Made in Britain, a collective and membership that certifies our business as exactly that.

When working with interior designers, what is the process?

They usually approach us with a project that needs bespoke lighting assistance and ask to subscribe to our trade programme. From there they receive exclusive discounts, specialist help with their lighting design and various benefits – it’s extremely beneficial to those designers working with a challenging space, pitched roofs, and spaces that have various limitations or are in need of specialist inspiration – as our designers have various means of overcoming challenges when it comes to lighting.

We begin with an initial consultation to discuss the intended space, go through the lighting design, offer glass samples, talk over customisation and produce 3d/2d models and renders of the proposed design. Once final changes have been made and all parties involved are happy with the final fixture, we send it off to production. The journey doesn’t end there either, we often lend our expertise on lighting installation and maintenance, ensuring a wonderful, easy experience at every stage.

What is your favourite project so far?

I have no firm favourites as every project brings something different and beautiful to the table, which is what makes our job so thrilling – but a project that stands out to me still to this day is our first Kingston sealed rod pendant cluster project.

Designed and crafted by our design team and very skilled glassblowers, the level of detail and design that went into this kitchen pendant project was astronomical, which is even harder to believe when it looks so seamless, so simple and breathtaking.

It was a bespoke design consisting of hand-blown sealed Kingston pendants on fixed rods in a brushed finish, the spacing had to be exact between every rod and drop measured accordingly to align with the island beneath. Seeing the final lighting installation stopped the team in our tracks, it was such a beautifully executed room and our Kingston sealed rod pendant gave it that extra wow-factor.

What are some of the plans for the near future…

There are some very big plans for the near future, firstly we have a brand new range of Leverint floor and table lamps coming to our shop. All designed to complement modern and contemporary high-end interiors, these pieces are very detail-oriented with a sculptural essence running throughout each design.

Secondly, we have our long awaited new collections which feature a completely alternative look to some of our current ranges. It’s very different in fact to anything else on the market! They all work with a custom beacon of illumination as opposed to LED bulbs and offer extraordinary luminosity within a series of very distinctive shades.

We recently previewed one of the designs at Design Centre’s Focus/24 event in September and reception was so incredible we’re very eager to release them to the wider public soon. As for the company, we just look forward to more exciting projects and growing the business as much as we can.

For more information about Leverint Lighting, to see their collections or enquire about bespoke or commercial projects, please visit leverint.co.uk.

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