British designer Lee Broom honours brutalism with his first landmark project for London Design Festival. Titled Beacon, the site-specific lighting sculpture is situated at the entrance of the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Broom was supported by Czech premium lighting brand Brokis and London consultancy firm Materials Assemble to realise the project.
Resembling a giant, ground-based chandelier, the work takes design cues from its surroundings, including the brutalist codes of the nearby Hayward Gallery and the modernist architecture of the Royal Festival Hall. Its form consists of a cluster of black lamp posts, each with an illuminated glass shade, inspired by the area's so-called ‘dolphin’ sculptural lamp posts designed by George John Vulliamy around 1870. Each element of the installation is tied together through a contemporary lens.
Lee Broom's 'Beacon' to light up London
Render of Beacon
Beyond its visual intrigue, Beacon serves a purpose. When Big Ben strikes the hour, the installation, visible from both sides of the Thames, will perform an illuminated choreography, beginning with a slow pulse and gradually building in tempo.
‘I hope the installation evokes a sense of spectacle, but also stirs something deeper: an emotional connection to the power of light, and to the spirit of the South Bank itself’
Lee Broom
The installation’s glass features were made from recycled glass at Brokis’ factory in Czechia. The textured surface mimics Baltic pine trees (a detail imprinted in the concrete walls of the Hayward Gallery). Broom also worked with Materials Assemble to help source sustainable and eco-friendly materials. Each part of the installation has been designed to be reused in a standalone lighting piece or a larger cluster, once Beacon is disassembled.
Render of Beacon
Broom's inspiration for the installation came from the 1951 Festival of Britain, which was described as a ‘beacon of change’ – promoting British science, technology, industrial design, architecture and the arts, and reinvigorating creativity in the wake of the Second World War.
Render of Beacon
‘I’ve always been hugely inspired by London and its architecture, especially the city’s brutalist and modernist buildings, and having lived here most of my life, the Southbank Centre has long been a place of creative resonance for me. There were so many architectural and cultural references I wanted to weave into Beacon’, says Broom. ‘I hope the installation evokes a sense of spectacle, but also stirs something deeper: an emotional connection to the power of light, and to the spirit of the South Bank itself.’
‘Beacon’ will be on view for the duration of the London Design Festival 2025, 13-22 September. It will then remain in place as a key installation for the Southbank Centre’s Winter Light festival, running from late October 2025 to early February 2026.
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