As a specialty design-build firm, Eos Lightmedia is highly regarded for its ability to bring turnkey audiovisual and lighting solutions to the market. But more than that, it elevates spaces and brings life to experiences through the careful curation and interplay of artistry and technology.
Named for Eos, the “rosy-fingered” Greco-Roman deity and the personification of the dawn, Eos Lightmedia harnesses the power of light to help its clients “step into a new dawn.” Positioned as a premium brand, it continues to push the boundaries of design with light and sound to create architectural spectacles that elevate spaces, places, and experiences that leave a lasting impact.
Power of light
Where this story begins is with the acknowledgement that vision is the first point of experience. By leveraging the latest in interactive lighting, audiovisual, and systems controls, as well as the creative drive of the talent within its ranks, Eos Lightmedia helps its clients and their end users test the limits of their imaginations.
As Founder and Principal Designer Douglas Welch notes, “We actually named the firm Lightmedia because we recognized at the time that the future of the industry was this convergence of technologies of lighting, theatrical lighting, architectural lighting, audiovisual systems, big digital screens—that the technologies were going to cross over and although we couldn’t see into the future, we tried to anticipate it.”
The company evolved out of the recognition that the procurement and integration of lighting systems was an industry challenge rather than a niche specialty, and as such, the company identified ways to expand its offerings and capabilities to meet the industry’s needs. Building on its experience in lighting design for museums and themed attractions, the firm dedicated itself to the supply, integration, and maintenance of these advanced lighting and audiovisual systems to become a full-service design-builder and design-integrator of lighting controls and automation, audiovisual systems, custom interactive software applications, lighting programming services, remote management, technical support, and lifecycle planning.
As Director of Strategy Shireen Khimani explains, “We want to make sure that we’re being good stewards for their spaces in the realm of technology,” a sentiment that was reiterated by Director of Special Projects Scott Hendrickson who notes, “We’ve taken that sense of building something that can last to all aspects of technology.”
This level of specialization is what truly elevates Eos Lightmedia’s offering, and the timing of its launch also coincided with an important paradigmatic shift that was taking place in the industry at the time. Hendrickson, who joined the firm just over a decade ago as a lighting designer and programmer, draws attention to the fact that at that time, “It was this excellent time where lighting started to become computer-driven. With the advent of LED technology, the relationship between lighting and audiovisual systems started to become closer and closer.”
Layering experiences
This technological evolution enabled Eos Lightmedia to expand its value proposition for clients by creating layered experiences, augmented reality, and projection mapping, allowing the team to undertake larger projects with a more challenging scope, including more immersive themed projects.
“If you want to draw someone into a museum experience, you need to be at the same level as the rest of the competition. We incorporate the way creative technology is integrated in marquee themed attractions, like theme parks, and use it to create impactful immersive experiences at any scale, in many different environments,” Hendrickson explains. “So, designing real interactive elements where folks can be a part of the experience.”
Clients are thus able to see beyond their visions to more innovative, interactive spaces and experiences. From Hendrickson’s perspective, this enables them to “paint with a bigger canvas. You can try something that’s never been done before because that’s mostly what we do: things that have never been done before. And it does give people the confidence to dream a little bit bigger.”
Artistry illuminated
There exists an insatiable curiosity at Eos Lightmedia that fosters innovation, evident in the company’s efforts to create “new ways of interacting with light and technology.” As Hendrickson explains, “There’s an investment at the firm level to celebrate innovation, and that’s something I don’t think that a lot of firms have.”
With its head office in Vancouver and integration facility in Orlando, where the team supports customization, rack building, testing, and assembly activities, the company’s reach is as expansive as its impact. It supports these ends by investing heavily in research and development, software development, and control systems design, as well as modelling technologies like BIM, Revit, pre-visualization, and rendering to become a single source for its clients’ needs.
This understanding that extends beyond its specialty to include the construction aspect of projects has made Eos Lightmedia invaluable in the market and has catalyzed its growth and its ability to undertake landmark projects around the world.
“We bring a very personal touch to every project. If a project needs help, we will fly out there to ensure that quality is met and managed,” says Hendrickson. From projects for the Smithsonian and the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame to the Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Eos Lightmedia is proud of what it has done for clients around the world.
Sharing stories
Among the notable projects in Eos Lightmedia’s portfolio are projects for Indigenous communities across Canada and the United States, where the storytelling dynamic becomes very rewarding for the firm. “It’s an important story that we have the opportunity to help tell. It’s helping amplify communities and voices that have been historically under- and misrepresented that makes these projects special—helping communities have voices and shedding light on histories and cultures that had previously been shadowed in the museum and cultural sector,” says Hendrickson.
Projects of this calibre are possible because of the expertise, collaboration, and passion of the team at Eos Lightmedia, whom Welch credits for much of the firm’s growth. “The enthusiasm for the work that we do is also the catalyst for growth, and I would like to think that our clients pick up on that and respond to it.”
Adds Hendrickson, “I think we have a high quality of touch. We have a lot of passion. We have a lot of internal training, and we are blessed with a lot of employee retention,” a consequence of the culture that has been fostered at Eos Lightmedia, which extends from its own people to its clients and end users.
For him, the most important thing is that, “whether that’s the end user who gets to go to a museum and be inspired by the work that we’ve done, or whether that’s a client who gets to go home happy at the end of the day that their stuff was delivered on time, or whether it’s building sustainable, manageable careers,” Eos Lightmedia is up for the challenge.
Acknowledging that this rewarding work is incredibly challenging, the goal moving forward will be to continue to push the envelope and to create the most immersive experiences in themed entertainment. This approach will see the firm continue to invest in its people and its capabilities and stay at the leading edge of technological changes—even those that move at the speed of light.
