Lee Broom X BROKIS: Beacon Unveiled at London Design Festival

Conceived as a major piece of public art, Beacon is more than a design installation, it is a shared experience in the public realm, open and accessible to all. Passersby are invited to immerse themselves in a work that is deeply rooted in its location and alive with movement.

“It is an honour to create my first landmark project for London Design Festival here on the South Bank, where my career began. BEACON is a tribute to both the history and the future of this place. Working with BROKIS has been invaluable, their expertise in glass and light brought my vision to life with extraordinary precision and sensitivity.”

Visually, Beacon draws inspiration from iconic elements of the South Bank. The installation reinterprets the Victorian Dolphin Street Lamps designed by George John Vulliamy in 1870, using them to form a structure that collectively resembles a vast sculptural chandelier. Its bold, uncompromising lines also echo the brutalist Hayward Gallery, alongside which the work stood during the festival.

One of the installation’s most captivating features is its dynamic choreography of light. Pulses of illumination build gradually before reaching a dramatic crescendo, synchronized with the chimes of Big Ben.

Beacon’s structure consists of a monumental frame supporting 91 black metal rods, each topped with an illuminated upcycled glass shade by BROKISGLASS. Crafted from recycled glass shards, each shade comprises 292 segments, forming a resilient and visually striking surface. The textured glass subtly evokes the imprint of Baltic Pine, a detail famously cast into the concrete walls of the Hayward Gallery.

BROKIS played an integral role in bringing Beacon to life, from the first technical consultations to the production of the glass and metal components at their renowned Czech factory, and finally to the on-site installation in London. The use of BROKISGLASS ensures maximum sustainability, with plans already in place to repurpose elements of the installation. Each shade will be reconfigured into a limited-edition table lamp for the home, available for purchase.

“For this occasion, we present an illuminated object conceived by Lee Broom and realised by BROKIS, a work born of devotion to craftmanship, reverence for tradition, and confidence in the vitality of contemporary Czech design.”