homefashion Q: How much of your business is custom? A: Well over half of our production. We’re probably the largest residential custom manufacturer in the U.S. today. Q: How do you maintain quality? A: We focus on the details. One of the company’s core values is what we call “the 10-inch rule,” which means that every fixture must satisfy a discerning eye from any distance—even from less than a foot away. Q: What are some of your favorite fixtures? A: I’m partial to those that showcase our expertise in both metal and glass. For example, many from our Hammerton Studio collections combine artisan-made textured glass shades with sculpted and hand-finished metals. They’re beautiful and very affordable. We also do some amazing work in many types of woven steel mesh.
alt Lake City-based Hammerton has created heirloom quality artisancrafted lighting for discerning homeowners and luxury hospitality brands since 1995. During a recent interview, Hammerton company founder and vice president of design, Levi Wilson, answered a variety of questions. Here are some of his interesting insights: Q: What put Hammerton on the map? A: The ski industry boom in the 1990s, when we designed big hand-forged steel fixtures for luxury homes and resorts in ski towns like Deer Valley, Vail, and Aspen. But much has changed since then. Today we also do a lot of work in blown glass and kin-fired glass, and most of our designs lean toward contemporary. And our customer base is global. Tweed Drum With Linen Shade
For more information about Hammerton products and much more, Coast Lighting is your local one-stop shop with the largest lighting products display in the Bay Area. They also offer on-site consultations, custom fixture design and fabrication, lamp repair, and installation services. They are able to help homeowners, contractors, and designers, alike understand the technical requirements for their projects. Their staff is extremely knowledgeable about the industry’s products and applications and will help you select the most appropriate of many solutions. For more information, you can visit them at 2626 El Camino Real in Redwood City, call them at 650-850-6220, or visit www.coastlighting.com.
Q: Your design heritage is in forged metal. Why have you moved into glass? A: Hammerton is known for pushing the boundaries of lighting design, so we’re continuously broadening our palette of design elements. Glass is a very broad platform for design innovation. Surprisingly it’s our expertise in metals that allows us to do unusual work in glass because we fabricate all our jigs and tooling, in-house. Q: What’s important to good lighting design? A: Getting scale and proportion right, and balancing aesthetics with function. Both are often overlooked. Think about how often you see fixtures that don’t fit their space, or fixtures that look nice but don’t provide proper illumination. Also, great fixtures always include an element of surprise or delight, however bold or subtle it may be.
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BAY LIVING • APRIL/MAY 2016
Bezel Ring Chandelier ONLINE AT BAYLIVINGMAGAZINE.COM