Uli+friends | THE STUDIO


AESTHETIC ILLUMINATION PLANNING FOR ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR SPACES AND LANDSCAPES

For more than two decades Uli+friends, based in Miami, has produced masterly, correct and magnificent lighting for architecture,landscapes and interior design. The company’s work includes, but is not limited to, illumination planning and system integration, harvesting daylight, saving energy and minimizing maintenance. Founded by the German industrial and interior designer Uli Petzold, Uli+friends creates lighting for residences, showrooms, resorts, mansions, landscapes, historic buildings, and offices around the world.

THE COMPANY

Uli + friends consists of ten professional lighting designers, engineers and architects. They include Oliver Koch, a German architect and engineer experienced in lighting and interior design, and Stephanie Ragusa, an American architectural lighting engineer with experience in residential, retail and landscape design. The company is a collaborative enterprise, with expertise in new techniques and the standards of tomorrow, offering illumination planning coordinated with the architectural process. Uli+friends has distinguished itself in a competitive marketplace with its unique approach: using fewer fixtures, more efficient fixtures, cleverly located and perfectly aimed, and using diffusers and lenses to temper the quality of the light. It’s a high-tech approach that creates the three-dimensionality of daylight. “We believe that good architecture and interiors deserve

The company is structured to work on challenging projects and is experienced with sophisticated clients who care about image and design. The luminaires are each chosen for a specific function; together they provide a perfectly lit environment. The company’s specification manual provides architects and engineers with the necessary information for implementing the designs, from ordering luminaires to installation, as well as schedules for maintaining the design. Uli+friends balances creativity and execution, functionality and aesthetics.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Uli + friends designs fulfill the aesthetic needs of clients while appealing to their emotional intelligence. The company’s projects encompass a range of styles, from Beaux Arts and historic to contemporary spaces, and include exterior illumination and landscapes. “The most important thing we do is take away architect’s headaches, and present them with a beautiful finished product, the architect’s do what they do best, and we do what we do best.”

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

The company offers a full range of services, including luminaire accounting coordination, construction administration, and luminaire focusing and aiming. Lighting designs can be incorporated into a centralized control system to increase energy efficiency and convenience. The company provides an in-house, pre-programmed database to be uploaded to an individual control system.

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ALL ABOUT ULI


RTL Explosive broadcasted on February 22, 2011 a five minute feature about Uli showcasing his work as a “lighting designer for the stars”. RTL Television is a German commercial television station and belongs to the RTL Group and is, in terms of market share, Germany’s largest private free-to-air broadcaster.
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LEED Platinum | Net Zero Residence

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2020 Alton is a brand new Green Home currently under construction in Miami Beach, FL 2020 Alton is pursuing a LEED rating of Platinum. 

It will be the first home in South Florida that we know of to achieve this status. 2020 Alton’s conception was a joint effort between architect Ari Sklar, developer Matt Lahn and general contractor Robert Arkin. On a lot size of 58′ x 120′, the city imposed restrictions of a single family home limited in size to 3,200 SF. Due to the setbacks imposed by the city, the resulting buildable area is only 32ft wide. The allowable height is also approximately 32ft. Therefore, the design sought to take advantage of these dimensions by making the main portion of the home designed as a cube which would be setback substantially from the busy street. An exposed masonry wall further protects the house by wrapping it on the north and west while creating a private courtyard for swimming and view of the golf course across the street. 2020 Alton is trying to be a “NET ZERO” home. Essentially this means that its system would produce enough power to run the home without taking energy from the FPL grid. In fact, the meter would spin backward and the homeowner would supply the grid with surplus power and receive a credit on their monthly FPL statement. In order to do this 2020 Alton will utilize Photovoltaic Solar panels, Vertical axis wind turbines, Geothermal heating and cooling, as well as the most advanced insulation technologies. In addition 2020 Alton will have in place a rain water collection system to harvest and store all of the rain water.…

ULTRA-LUXURIOUS INDIAN CREEK ISLAND PERSONAL HOME OASIS

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A Private Oasis of Serenity & Breathtaking Beauty 

It was an honor for us to work with Rene Gonzales Architects to illuminate this beautiful estate. 3 Indian Creek Island, South Florida’s most expensive property, is simply like no other residence in South Florida. Seemingly floating on water, the 10-bedroom, 14-bathroom home is comprised of a series of pavilions interconnected by beautifully-crafted stone walkways and lush garden walls. Serene waterfront views are visible from every room. Residents and guests of the home are treated to a 100-foot resort-style pool and cabana, six wet-bars, a rooftop “sky bar” and Jacuzzi. A full spa pavilion and a “state-of-the-art” glass encased waterfront gym grace the property. Living spaces are enclosed by wooden louvers and glass, flooding the home with natural light. Coupled with limestone walls and indoor reflecting pools, the 3 Indian Creek resort home oasis is truly a contemporary masterpiece of architecture and art. Located in Miami’s Biscayne Bay, the 300-acre island includes just 32 luxury waterfront estate homes, granting a truly unique level of privacy and security and a world-renowned private 18-hole golf course and Country Club.…

NY CITY RESIDENCE

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In the old police headquarters building on Centre Street in Manhattan was once the radio room. Renovations revealed 16 steel beams that supported a magnificent dome, which lights the living and dining area during the day and offers a place in which to hide architectural lighting fixtures. Uli+friends made the perimeter glow at night to define the volume. The lighting fades toward the center, creating a three-dimensional shape. The glossy white paint on the lower wall bounces light into the room and anchors the perimeter.         …

CALIFORNIA LOFT

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In illuminating loft spaces – especially those with very high ceilings – it’s essential to keep rooms visually cohesive while avoiding the look and feel of a warehouse. Of great importance here was highlighting artwork, book collections, and furniture. The key was to design with sophistication but without retention. With the correct placement of light, height can be broken up, and a space made more coherent.
Illuminating pendant fixtures with each other casts enigmatic shadows, bringing a remarkable three dimensional feeling in the room. Recessed wall lights, irregularly placed, cast an uneven pattern of light, which also breaks up the conventional architectural lines.…

COLLECTORS FLAT

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The interior architect Edward David Nieto is known for his high-gloss surfaces. To minimize potential glare and transform a glossy shell into a comfortable home, light is bounced off framed photographs, ceilings and walls. Lights are positioned within walls to create soft reflections into the rooms, furniture pieces are highlighted – all without glare. Decorative pieces, like the floor lamps, add focal interest and additional illumination.…

BEACH RESIDENCE

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Wraparound windows facing the water offer views of ocean, beach, sky, boats, and people during the day. But at night, without a city view, they become a black hole. The solution is to “frame” windows with lights, to create drama and atmosphere. The windows therefore become a series of picture frames for the occasional passing of a ship.

Equal drama was created in the kitchen, with an illuminated, recessed waterfall. Bedrooms, however, required softer, more nuanced lighting. The bedroom is for privacy and intimacy, there is very little over-head illumination. The exception is at the perimeter where fixtures highlight artwork and decorative objects. The flattering and relaxing ambient lighting comes from recessed wall fixtures that bounce illumination off ceilings and floors.…

IN THE WORKS

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A10,000 square-foot home in Miami Beach, designed by the architect Roney Mateu. One request is to bring daylight into the structure using the latest technology.…

A BEAUX ARTS PRIVATE HOME

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A beaux arts private home in Frankfurt, Germany, was renovated to become a 60,000-square-foot insurance office. Uli+friends provided interior and exterior lighting designs. The chiaroscuro facade turns the iconic building into a city landmark.

Inside the building, the architect creates tension between the historically protected walls ceilings, floors and decorative plaster work by adding contemporary furnishings and modern art. In collaboration with the architect, the lighting design became contemporary as well. Pendant task lighting minimize interference with the ceilings, and UV filters on all the luminaires protect the artwork.…