We had been developing a tall light for a stairwell, a vertical lamp that needed to feel calm and precise. The idea of pairing it with 100 percent post-consumer recycled aluminium felt right, technically and ethically. Hydro offered to help us look at the profile with fresh eyes, and that changed the project.
The brief that stretched to the ceiling
Our starting point was an architectural commission, a light installation that runs the height of a stair. The sketch was simple, a slim profile with the light source hidden from view.
The installation will eventually stand about 28 meters, repeated in a series of vertical elements, so everything about the section had to be robust, consistent and easy to assemble.
From one big profile to three smaller ones
We first imagined a single, complex extrusion. It looked elegant on paper. Then Hydro’s engineers noticed something we had missed. Inside our drawing were three similar shapes. Splitting the form into three interlocking profiles would reduce risk in production and still create the same silhouette when assembled.
It was a small shift that solved many problems, from handling to surface quality, and it made the object easier to assemble and service.
Learning extrusion together
We have worked with aluminium before, mainly with sheet cutting and finishing, but extrusion was new to us. Hydro brought us into the process, from refining the drawing to developing the die. That collaboration helped us keep the section balanced, leave proper space for LED strips, and control how the pieces slide and lock. The result is indirect light, no glare, and a clean exterior without visible sources.
We chose an anodized finish for the way it works with light on a curved surface. In daylight the profile reads as a soft sculpture, and in the evening the interior reflections deepen the tone and give the object warmth. The lamp had to earn its place both on and off, so the profile does a second job as a quiet vertical totem when the LEDs are off.
Designing for assembly and maintenance
The three profiles slide into each other and are capped at the top and bottom with simple plates, which keeps the assembly honest and the service points clear. Working this way also lets us scale the idea. The same section can become a tall floor piece, a pendant in a smaller diameter, or an outdoor element for landscape lighting, all without redrawing the entire system.
Staying naive to stay creative
There is a balance we try to keep. We want enough technical understanding to be responsible, yet we hold on to a bit of productive naivety. If we know every limitation in advance, we might stop too early. This project reminded us that the right partners can turn a stubborn sketch into a viable product, and that curiosity at the start is worth protecting.
Why 100R aluminium mattered
Aluminium is a circular material, and 100R takes that to a clear place. Using post consumer scrap, then giving it a long second life in a durable product, fit the brief and our values. If one day these luminaires are no longer needed, the material can be melted and used again. That idea, the almost endless loop, influenced how we detailed the parts and how we thought about future variants.
Extrusion can be a lens that changes how you see form. A section drawn as a clean circle can become something richer when split, mirrored and slid together. We also learned that the best technical leaps happen in conversation, in our case at the press line and around the die drawings, where a practical suggestion reframed the whole design. That is how the lamp became three pieces that read as one.
