A Day One Assignment

The vision for Arizona Lighting Sales’ new office was already taking shape when RoseAnn Linsmeyer joined the agency’s specifications team. Bringing 19 years of experience in architecture and interior design, including her work as a certified interior designer, Linsmeyer was recruited by Sean McKern, a partner at the agency who had previously worked with her as a client at her former firm. Her design background quickly became a valuable part of the team’s efforts to bring the new office to life, collaborating with agency leadership and the project team to shape a space that reflects both the business and the design community it serves.

Within hours of joining the agency, Linsmeyer was already putting her design experience to work by space planning the new office – a quick introduction to the collaborative role she would play in shaping the project.

Linsmeyer worked closely with Michael Swanson, PE, LC, a professional engineer and lighting-certified member of the specifications team who has been with Arizona Lighting Sales since 2022. Swanson played a key role in developing the electrical drawings, selecting the lighting fixtures, and translating the design vision into detailed fixture specifications. Together, the two brought complementary expertise to the project. Linsmeyer drew from her background in architecture and interior design, while Swanson contributed his engineering and lighting expertise. The result was truly an inside job: an agency designing its own space with the knowledge and experience of its own team.

The new office occupies an existing building approximately five miles from the agency’s former location. Two adjacent suites were fully demolished and combined into a single floor plate, providing a blank canvas for a new kind of workplace; one designed to support the agency’s day-to-day operations while also creating an immersive environment for the A&D community.

A Workplace Designed for Light

The vision called for a diverse range of lighting applications. The office would showcase architectural and decorative lighting, integrated acoustics, and lighting controls, giving the design community an opportunity to experience the breadth of the agency’s line card. At the same time, it would function as a comfortable, productive workplace for a team that works with lighting every day. The challenge was to bring these varied elements together in a way that felt intentional and distinctly part of the same design.

“We wanted to incorporate a variety of lighting; architectural, decorative, accent, and everything in between. It all needed to feel cohesive within the overall design," stated LInsmeyer. "This is first and foremost a working lighting office, but it also gives us the opportunity to showcase what lighting can do in a real environment.”

Focal Point was a natural choice for the project, given Linsmeyer’s years of experience specifying the line. Its broad portfolio offered the flexibility to incorporate a range of lighting applications while maintaining a consistent design language throughout the office. This allowed the team to demonstrate the versatility of Focal Point’s products while creating a space that still felt intentional.

“I’ve specified Focal Point throughout my career as a designer, and I’ve always appreciated the versatility of the line. Having that familiarity made it a natural choice for our own office and gave us an opportunity to showcase the products in a real working environment.” 

The existing building presented an opportunity to create a more dynamic ceiling design. With limited structural height, the team chose to preserve the volume of the space rather than introduce dropped ceilings throughout. Circulation areas and the open office remained open to structure, while private offices received dropped ceilings for greater acoustic privacy. The decision meant that the open office and entertainment space needed another approach to acoustic control – one that could address sound while also contributing to the visual character of the space. 

Focal Point’s broad portfolio made it possible to approach each space differently while maintaining a cohesive overall design. Different fixtures were selected for the open office and entertainment space based on their individual functions, while shared materials and coordinated PET felt colors created a visual connection between them. Each space could have its own identity while still feeling like part of a unified whole.

Polina: A Ceiling Designed for Flexibility

Lux Studio was designed to be a truly versatile space within the office, capable of supporting everything from trainings and presentations to social events and gatherings. The space even features a golf simulator! Because the room would serve so many different purposes, flexibility was central to the design. Furniture, technology, and lighting all needed to work together while allowing the space to easily adapt from one use to another.

That flexibility extended to the ceiling. Rather than locating decorative pendants over perceived seating areas, the team needed a lighting solution that could work equally well whether the room was arranged for a training session or round of golf.

The team found the answer in Focal Point’s Polina, a hexagonal acoustic pendant made of TriCore® PET felt with an indirect light engine. The hexagonal pendants combine indirect illumination with acoustic performance, creating a soft, consistent field of light across the ceiling.

“Polina gave us the flexibility we needed for the different ways we use this space. The ceiling doesn’t dictate how the room has to be arranged – it allows us to use the space in a variety of ways,”  said Linsmeyer.

The modular nature of the 42" Polina pendants gave the team flexibility to thoughtfully coordinate lighting with the other elements integrated into the ceiling. Short linear mechanical diffusers were designed to fit between the pendants. A projector for the presentation screen was placed within the array, allowing each system to work together while maintaining a cohesive and intentional ceiling design. 

The flexibility continued through the lighting controls. Lux Studio is equipped with a Lutron Athena system, allowing the Polina pendants to be individually addressed and grouped into scenes. The team can adjust the lighting levels throughout the room depending on the activity, while also using the space to demonstrate the possibilities of more granular lighting control. The rest of the office runs on Lutron Vive, a deliberate pairing that lets the agency show visitors how a project can put premium controls where it matters most and a cost-effective system everywhere else. 

Together, the adaptable furniture, integrated technology, and flexible lighting create a space that can transform from a training environment to a social gathering – or even a golf simulator – without changing the fundamental character of the room. Polina became an important part of that strategy, providing both the performance and visual consistency needed to make a truly multi-purpose space work

The Results

The new office brings together the functional needs of a growing team with a space designed to welcome and engage the architecture and design community. Private focus rooms support one-on-one conversations, while the huddle room accommodates the virtual meetings that have become part of the everyday workday. A boardroom, additional touchdown workstations, flexible training tables in Lux Studio, and even the bar give visiting architects and designers places to work, gather, and connect. Each space was intentionally designed to support the many ways the office is used today – by the team, by industry partners, and by the broader design community.

The space has quickly become a destination of its own. The agency hosts events and social gatherings, runs a golf league on the simulator, and finds that visitors – reps, designers, architects, and engineers alike – ask for a tour.

“We wanted this to be a place where people could experience lighting, but also a place where they would genuinely enjoy spending time. Seeing people use the space, gather here, and come back is incredibly rewarding.”

For Linsmeyer, the project brought together many of the principles she had developed throughout her career as a designer: a single manufacturer with a deep, coordinated portfolio makes cohesion easy. Modular systems like Mora and Polina made the design simple to plan and specify. A shared palette carried the motif from room to room. The process of designing the office also highlighted the value of visual inspiration. Focal Point’s library of application imagery became a useful resource as the team refined ideas, explored possibilities, and made final selections.

“Having access to so many application images was incredibly helpful during the design process," concludes Linsmeyer. "It allowed us to see the products in different environments, understand the possibilities, and then translate those ideas into something that felt right for our own space.”