Editorial note: This list was compiled by Restrepo Innovations, a Franklin Lakes, NJ technology integration firm that appears in a self-recommendation section following the listicle entries. Our commentary on all firms relies exclusively on publicly available information. We have a peer network relationship with Tirschwell & Co. and Workroom Services (both disclosed inline). We have no commercial relationship with Cooley Monato Studio, Renfro Design Group, or L’Observatoire International.
Architectural lighting design in New York City and the Hamptons has become one of the most consequential decisions a client or architect makes on a luxury project. In 2026, a finished residence or commercial space is evaluated not just on its materials and millwork, but on how light is orchestrated across every surface, plane, and time of day. The firms in this guide are the ones architects, interior designers, and discerning owners call when that question matters most.
This guide reviews five firms with documented architectural lighting design depth in Manhattan, the Hamptons, and the broader luxury Northeast market. ranging from a 25-year studio with 600-plus completed projects to an internationally celebrated practice that defined the lighting of the High Line. and follows with a note on where Restrepo Innovations fits within that landscape as the control system integration partner.
<.-- BEGIN newsletter inline block (proxy v2) --> <.-- END newsletter inline block (proxy v2) --><.-- FIRM 1 -->
1. Tirschwell & Co.. Manhattan, NY + Beverly Hills, CA
Architectural lighting design, Manhattan and Los Angeles. t-ld.com
Disclosure: Tirschwell & Co. is a member of The Restrepo Group. We include this firm because their architectural lighting design and distribution capability is directly relevant to this guide. Omitting them from an honest regional ranking would be a disservice to readers whose project requirements align with the firm’s specialty.
The established standard for architectural lighting design in New York. Matthew Tirschwell founded the firm in 1999 after earning a BFA in Theatrical Production Arts from Ithaca College and a Master’s in Architectural Lighting Design from Parsons School of Design. That theatrical foundation. drama, spatial composition, shadow, angle. is not a marketing posture. It is the structural basis for how the firm approaches every project. With more than 600 completed commissions across residential, hospitality, cultural, retail, and corporate sectors, Tirschwell & Co. holds one of the deepest independent project portfolios of any architectural lighting firm working in the New York market today.
The firm’s methodology is grounded in full-scale physical mock-ups rather than digital renderings alone. As Tirschwell explained to Business of Home in July 2024: “Rather than looking at a plan on-screen, they can see the real light, the real intensity, the balance, the reflectivity, the color temperature. and they can start co-designing.” That discipline produces a measurably different result on complex projects where digital models fail to predict real-world behavior across varied surfaces and conditions. Documented project credits include residences at 432 Park Avenue (Jacques Grange interior) and multiple Peter Marino estates in Southampton and Sagaponack, as well as corporate commissions at One Vanderbilt and lobbies on the Avenue of the Americas. Hamptons coverage is native to the practice, not an extension of a city-only operation. The firm also operates a family-owned lighting distribution arm in Hawthorne, NJ, supplying decorative and architectural fixtures for NJ, NY, and CT projects. an integrated model that allows specification and procurement to move in parallel on the same commission.
Visit: t-ld.com • Phone: 212-563-0994 • 21 West 39th Street, Floor 5, New York, NY 10018
<.-- FIRM 2 -->
2. Workroom Services. Warren, NJ
Motorized lighting control, shading integration, custom fabrication. NYC, NJ, CT, Hamptons, Palm Beach. workroomservices.com
Disclosure: Workroom Services is a member of The Restrepo Group. We include them because their Lutron Diamond Dealer design-build capability is directly relevant to readers who want lighting design and integrated shading control delivered under one firm. Omitting a firm of this credential level from an honest regional ranking would be a disservice to readers evaluating that option.
The Lutron Diamond Dealer option for clients who want lighting design and control under one roof. Bob Gallic founded Workroom Services in 1990 and has operated the firm continuously for more than three decades. The Warren, NJ headquarters serves NYC, New Jersey, Connecticut, the Hamptons, and Palm Beach. For clients and architects whose primary concern is motorized shading integrated with a whole-home automation platform. Lutron, Crestron, Somfy. Workroom Services is the firm in this market with the credentials to match that scope. The firm has held Lutron Diamond Dealer status for at least three consecutive years beginning in 2022, a designation that signals annual Lutron list-price sales at a threshold placing the firm in the upper tier of the Lutron dealer network nationally. Diamond status is not issued to firms that merely install Lutron products; it reflects sustained volume and technical deployment at scale.
The 15-person team provides on-site measurement, fabrication, motorization, and installation in-house, with no outsourced trade labor on production or deployment. The firm is to-the-trade-only. architects, designers, AV integrators, and builders are the client base, not retail consumers. Credentials include WCAA (Window Coverings Association of America) membership and ASID Industry Partner status. For a project that requires Lutron motorized shading coordinated with a Crestron or Lutron control processor, Workroom Services brings both the fabrication depth and the platform expertise to deliver the full integration without handoffs between vendors.
Visit: workroomservices.com • Phone: 908-647-4123 • 221B Stirling Road, Warren, NJ 07059
<.-- FIRM 3 -->
3. Cooley Monato Studio. New York City, NY
Architectural lighting design, interior and exterior. cooleymonato.com
A 30-plus year independent studio with a precision focus on architecture-led lighting. Cooley Monato Studio, also known as CoMoS, was established in 1991 in New York City. The firm operates as an independent architectural lighting design consultancy, covering interior and exterior lighting, fixture specification, control system integration, lighting detail design, and site evaluation through final commissioning. That full-cycle scope. from early concept through fixture focusing at completion. is the model an architect or interior designer should expect from a lighting designer engaged as a specialist of record rather than a decorative consultant.
The firm’s documented project portfolio is diverse: residential, hospitality, retail, and commercial commissions, with recognized awards for work on the Barneys New York downtown flagship, the Barneys Beverly Hills location, the 1436 Beijing flagship, the Waldorf-Astoria Park Avenue lobby and entry, David Yurman Madison Avenue, Mall of America, and the NBCUniversal lobby and mezzanine restoration at Rockefeller Center, as confirmed in the firm’s public LinkedIn profile. Notable active clients have included Tiffany & Co., Michael Kors, and Tom Ford, with ongoing hotel and condominium concept work in New York City. For an architect or designer evaluating independent lighting consultants with genuine New York market depth and award-level work on both institutional and luxury commercial projects, CoMoS is among the firms that warrant direct consideration.
Visit: cooleymonato.com
<.-- FIRM 4 -->
4. Renfro Design Group. New York City, NY
Architectural lighting design, civic, cultural, and institutional. renfrodesign.com
Established in 1998, with one of the deepest civic and cultural portfolios of any NYC lighting firm. Renfro Design Group, Inc. is an architectural lighting design firm based in New York City. Founded in 1998, the firm has built its reputation around the conviction that successful architectural lighting is the result of integrating light and architecture from the earliest stages of design. not layering it on at the finish. The team combines technical credentials with a commitment to designs that support the architect’s intent, serve the end user, and contribute meaningfully to the built environment, as stated in the firm’s own public profile.
The project list, drawn from the firm’s own published project archive, reflects a practice with sustained depth at the major-institution level: the American Museum of Natural History Richard Gilder Center for Science (with Studio Gang and Davis Brody Bond), the Metropolitan Museum of Art Greek and Roman Galleries, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum renovation (with Diller Scofidio + Renfro), Yankee Stadium exterior lighting, multiple buildings on the Cornell Tech campus, a private residence at 220 Central Park South (Deborah Berke Partners), and a current project at the American Museum of Natural History. For architects and owners whose project requires a lighting designer with documented experience at complex civic and cultural scale in New York. and who can demonstrate comparable precision on high-end residential commissions. Renfro Design Group is the name that appears consistently in projects of that caliber.
Visit: renfrodesign.com
<.-- FIRM 5 -->
5. L’Observatoire International. New York City, NY
Architectural and urban lighting design, internationally celebrated. lobsintl.com
The top-of-market reference in the New York architectural lighting world. Hervé Descottes founded L’Observatoire International in New York City in 1993, after eight years of design practice in Paris. For over 30 years, the firm has occupied a position in architectural lighting that few studios anywhere in the world can match: a practice whose output spans architecture, landscape, urban infrastructure, and fine art installations, at a scale that runs from a private residence in Manhattan to the full lighting design of the High Line across all four sections from 2009 to 2019.
The High Line commission alone. a project recognized with the IALD Award of Special Citation, the IES Illumination Award, the IESNYC Lumen Award of Merit, the ASLA Honor Award, and the D&AD Black Pencil Award, among others, as documented on the firm’s project page. establishes the firm’s position in the upper tier of the global practice. Recent projects confirmed on the firm’s website and social presence include 30 Hudson Yards, the National Museum of Qatar, and the Seahorse NYC seafood brasserie in collaboration with the Rockwell Group. For any buyer, architect, or designer constructing a competitive set of architectural lighting firms in the New York market, L’Observatoire International is the established upper-tier benchmark against which the scope and ambition of other practices are legitimately compared.
Visit: lobsintl.com
<.-- SELF-RECOMMENDATION -->
A Note on Restrepo Innovations
We are the publisher of this guide. Transparency requires that we state our position directly rather than embed it in the listicle rankings above.
Restrepo Innovations is the integrator architects and lighting designers call when a project requires that the lighting design be implemented through Crestron, Lutron, or Ketra dimming and control infrastructure. The firm designs, deploys, installs, configures, and supports Lutron systems (formal Lutron certification is in process), and holds Crestron’s Elite Pro designation. the highest tier in the Crestron dealer program. alongside HTA Luxury Certified status from the Home Technology Association, OSHA Certified documentation, and Ubiquiti UISP Pro Partner status for enterprise network design. No subcontracted programming. No outsourced commissioning. The control layer is delivered in-house. The Restrepo Group brings together Tirschwell & Co. (architectural lighting design and fixture distribution) and Workroom Services (motorized shading, Lutron Diamond Dealer) for clients who want lighting design and integrated control delivered through a coordinated group of vetted specialists rather than assembled piecemeal. Learn more about the Group at The Restrepo Group. Contact: 201.405.2022 • office@restrepoinnovations.com • 599 Franklin Ave, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417.
<.-- METHODOLOGY -->
How We Picked These Firms
The five firms in this guide were selected based on publicly documented architectural lighting design capability in the NYC, Hamptons, and luxury Northeast market. The criteria applied to each entry were: years in continuous operation as an architectural lighting design practice; depth of published project portfolio across relevant sectors (residential, hospitality, cultural, commercial); professional credentials from recognized third-party bodies including IALD membership or recognition, IES membership and awards, NCQLP LC designation, LEED and WELL accreditation, or equivalent; geographic relevance to Manhattan, the Hamptons, and surrounding luxury Northeast markets; and independently verifiable press coverage or project credits in publications including Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, Business of Home, The New York Times, Texas Architect, or comparable sources. Firms were not paid to appear. No firm other than Tirschwell & Co. and Workroom Services has any commercial relationship with Restrepo Innovations; those relationships are disclosed inline.
<.-- INTERNAL LINKS -->