UWorld – A Custom Success Story That Sowed the Seeds for a New Collection
UWorld was a project in need of a manufacturing solution. Gensler Dallas needed a partner to bring their vision to reality. Fabbian USA manufactures quality custom and standard products and loves a challenge. Fate (and our local rep agency partners at ALA Dallas) brought these entities together.
The Gensler Dallas design team had worked with Uworld to create a new type of lighting system for the lounge area of their Texas headquarters. The concept had been under development for months. However, finding a supplier willing to implement the solution proved very challenging. Quantities were relatively low, the production and UL were complicated, and with the holidays quickly approaching, many factories had extended lead times up to 20+ weeks. The client’s move-in date was a short nine weeks away, and it looked like the design concept would have to be drastically sacrificed.
As luck would have it, Architectural Lighting Associates happened to be presenting Fabbian’s newest products and custom capabilities to the Gensler Dallas team when the proverbial light bulb moment occurred.
The Fabbian team quickly got to work! Within one week of the initial meeting, Fabbian Italy’s engineering team was able to produce project drawings. A glass mold concept was made and shipped within two weeks for approval. The rest of the process went just as quickly due to Fabbian’s relations with the many local artisans and small family-owned craft shop specialists throughout the Veneto region. Within eight weeks of the initial meeting, an entirely new lighting system type with approximately 40 capsule fixtures with custom “V” mounting canopies was on site and ready for installation.
Fabbian’s resources, including their in-house design and testing teams and network of skilled local masters, enabled them to meet this challenge with one week to spare.
Riding their wave of success, Gensler Dallas and the Fabbian USA team kept discussing the potential for this new system type’s design and, with some evolution of the initial elements, created a new product collection that features elegant blown glass elements that would be suitable for commercial, residential, restaurant, and hospitality applications. And the XY&Z F63 collection was born!
