Kapil Surlakar is the founder of LIGHT@WORK Design Consultants Pvt Ltd, a design-focused firm that has redefined the approach to architectural and urban lighting solutions. With a commitment to ethical design excellence, his work demonstrates the powerful interplay between light and architecture, creating environments that are both functional and aesthetically compelling. In conversation with INSITE, Mr. Surlakar discusses his philosophy of making light work as an imperative visual medium, while balancing economic and ergonomic considerations in every project.

1. LIGHT@WORK's motto is "Ethical Design Excellence." How does this philosophy manifest in your approach to lighting design, and what does ethical design mean in the context of architectural lighting?

A. Light@Work is a design company with a strong belief that design must strive to provide knowledgeable solutions in response to the client's brief and budgets. At times when the client is misguided or unaware of budget constraints, one must educate the client and make them aware of the need to recalibrate budgets. This must be strictly a non-commercial decision, based on parameters that merit the situation. This is easier said than done. Sincerity and ethics are becoming anachronisms, values fast receding into the corners.

The industry is fraught with new vocabulary such as "commission," "finder's fees," "markup," to name a few, which dominate and overshadow design decisions. We take pride in our professional expertise and integrity and believe that unethical means to augment income dilutes the service and is not fair to the clients who trust you to guide them with your knowledge. This has resulted in some very longstanding client relationships, with multiple repeat projects for us.

2. Can you share a project where the relationship between light and architecture was particularly crucial to the success of the design?

A. Lighting various scales of projects, diligently following the principles of lighting design to the extent possible, adapting with deviations when needed, always with an intent to deliver results as intended, has been our standard operating procedure. The asks are different: sometimes to exhibit grandeur, sometimes for comfort, sometimes to create a master image to market a project, and sometimes to be shocking and outrageous. Every solution is attempted without compromising core architectural design principles.

Working on some temple and heritage architectural sites, it's a concerted effort to integrate light and lighting equipment without disturbing the integrity and ethos of the architecture, to create the right nighttime visual. Working on a residential township with a client who needed to be educated on the advantages of architectural lighting design, we had to ensure that the lighting design created a product instrumental in marketing and selling the township, which we achieved successfully. The same township has now progressed to phase III of development with well over 1,000 villas.

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