Following the announcement that he is stepping down as Senior Partner of Speirs Major Light Architecture, arc editor Matt Waring spoke to Mark Major about the decision, his career highlights, and what his future holds.

After 40 years of continuous practice, pioneering lighting designer Mark Major is stepping down from his role as Senior Partner of Speirs Major Light Architecture (SMLA).

Major co-founded Speirs and Major, as it was then known, in 1996 with the late Jonathan Speirs. Since then, the practice has become one of the most widely regarded in the lighting design profession, with a wealth of award-winning projects around the globe.

It was during his studies in architecture at Edinburgh University in the mid-1980s when Major first met Speirs, also an architect, who had not long established independent lighting practice, Lighting Design Partnership (LDP) with theatre lighting designer Andre Tammes.

“They were doing something I had never come across – running a design practice that was dedicated to illuminating the built environment. It seemed very creative and exciting,” Major recalls. “I loved architecture, and still do, but in my teens, I aspired to be a painter. I could immediately see that lighting design was an area where I could bring my passions and skill sets together. They offered me a summer job, and the rest is history.”

Major worked with LDP in the evenings, weekends and holidays as he finished his architecture studies, and later started his own small practice in London. “I ran things out of a small office in the attic of the architects where I had qualified, surviving on a mix of small architectural projects, lighting commissions, and part-time teaching. It was great fun, but I lived right on the financial edge!”

In late 1992, after learning that Speirs had left LDP to start out again on his own in Edinburgh, Major reached out to his friend, and the two agreed to form a working association together in London. Four years later, they formalised the partnership, and started Speirs and Major.

“All we wanted to do was great work. “If we had one guiding philosophy, it was that we saw what we did as an extension of architecture – integrated, not applied, or cosmetic. If architecture is the art of creating special places for people, ‘light architecture’ is about delivering them after dark.”

Through Speirs and Major – later rebranded to SMLA – Major has shaped the experience of some of the world’s most significant buildings and public spaces at night, with work ranging from modest interventions, to the masterplanning of large urban areas.

Major’s impact on the built environment is particularly evident in London, where he has created many landmark lighting projects, including the Millenium Dome, 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin), Battersea Power Station, and Terminal 5 Heathrow. He has also been responsible for the re-lighting of the interiors of both St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Elsewhere in the UK, his work includes the interior of Norwich Cathedral, and the Macallan Distillery in Speyside, Scotland. International projects include Beijing Airport’s Terminal 2, Manhattan West in New York, and the Barangaroo development in Sydney. He is also well known for his urban work, including the lighting masterplan for King’s Cross, and lighting strategy for the City of London. He was the Lighting Design Advisor to the Olympic Delivery Authority for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

However, after 30 years at the helm of SMLA, Major will formally step down as Senior Partner at the end of August. Senior Partner Keith Bradshaw, who he has co-run the practice with for the last 14 years, will continue to guide the studio’s creative ethos and strategic direction, supported by Partners Clementine Fletcher-Smith and Carrie Donahue Bremner.

Speaking of the decision to step down, Major says: “Like anyone who is passionate about their work, I always imagined that I would go on until I dropped. It therefore came as a bit of shock that my hand was forced by being diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease 10 years ago.

“While, with the unflinching support of Keith and the team, plus working hard to stay mentally and physically fit, I have been able to continue doing what I love for a further decade, I decided a while back that it would also be wise to listen to the medical advice that I was being given and slow down.

“More importantly, I didn’t want to hold back the development of the practice, so I signalled to Keith and the studio that I was planning to take things a bit easier. Given the history, and the wonderful working life I have led, the decision to put a date on it wasn’t easy, but once done, I began to notice the benefit. As a result, I am currently in good shape. As for the practice, I have no doubt at all that SMLA will continue to thrive.”

Major will remain as a consultant, but says that after many years operating at top gear, he intends to take a break and prepare for his “next life”. “I was speaking to a friend the other day and admitted that I was in denial about using the ‘R’ word. She helpfully volunteered that ‘R’ should stand for ‘Recalibration’, rather than ‘Retirement’. I very much liked that idea.

“While part of recalibrating will be continuing to help SMLA on a couple of key legacy projects – the exterior of St. Paul’s Cathedral and ongoing work at Westminster Abbey – I have a long list of other things that I am raring to do. That includes continuing with research and writing. While the focus will continue to be on the world of light and architecture, I hope to be able to broaden things out to also cover related areas such as art, theatre, film – other creative areas that I am deeply interested in, and where light plays a key role. It is always the cross currents between these creative areas that interests me.

“Coming full circle, I want to get back to drawing and painting. I used to spend a lot of my time sketching and trying to grapple with watercolour. Earlier this year, I made a short foray into charcoal and acrylic; I would like to think that I may even be brave enough to tackle oil once again. After all, while it has been nearly half a century since my last attempt, if there is one thing I have learned from the last four decades is that I can be very determined when I need to be!”

Everyone at [d]arc media wishes to congratulate Mark on an incredible career, in which he has inspired lighting professionals around the world, and we wish him the very best on the next step of his journey.

www.smlightarchitecture.com