18 Degrees
18 Degrees is a London-based specialist architectural lighting design studio founded in 2014, delivering human-led lighting schemes across commercial workplace, retail, cultural, and mixed-use developments for enterprise clients and developers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What 18 Degrees does
18 Degrees is a London-based specialist architectural lighting design studio founded in 2014 by Paul Beale, operating under the legal entity 18 Degrees Below Ltd. The firm delivers human-led lighting design consulting across commercial workplace, mixed-use developments, retail, cultural, and landscape settings — translating technical performance, visual aesthetics, and sustainability criteria into project-specific lighting schemes for architects, developers, landlords, contractors, and corporate end-clients.
The core service is professional lighting design (concept through commissioning), supported by an in-house engineering capability and integration with major environmental certification frameworks including BREEAM, LEED, WELL, SKA, NABERS, and WiredScore. Distinctive technical offerings include circadian-supportive dynamic lighting, smart controls and occupancy sensors for hybrid-work environments, and — since 2024 — 18 Circular, a proprietary lighting-as-a-service model that intercepts luminaires from Cat A fit-outs, refurbishes them, and redeploys them across building cycles, claiming roughly 80% embodied-carbon reduction versus business-as-usual procurement.
Commercially, the firm is bootstrapped and founder-led, with no recorded external funding. Revenue is generated through B2B professional services fees (quote-based, per project) supplemented by the emerging recurring-revenue 18 Circular sub-brand. Distribution is relationship-led: direct engagement with enterprise clients and embedded collaboration within architectural design teams at firms including ID:SR, Hassell, Conran and Partners, Morris+Company, Piercy&Company, and SODA. The client roster features tier-one enterprise and real-estate names — Freshfields, BT, Crown Estate, British Land, Bridgepoint, AustralianSuper, LVMH (Thomas Pink) — indicating the firm's positioning at the upper end of the UK specialist lighting design market. Geographic scope is UK-domestic at the project level, with modest international reach via global retail brand rollouts.
18 Degrees firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- 18 Degrees
- Legal name
- 18 Degrees Below Ltd
- Website
- https://18degs.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- 18 Degrees is a London-based specialist architectural lighting design studio founded in 2014, delivering human-led lighting schemes across commercial workplace, retail, cultural, and mixed-use developments for enterprise clients and developers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
18 Degrees industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Architectural Lighting Design Services
- NAICS
- Interior Design Services (54141), Interior Design Services (541410)
- SIC
- Electrical Work (1731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Lighting Design Services (BPAHAKAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Commercial Lighting Fixture Installation (HSAOAFAM), Landscape Accent & Uplighting (Trees/Facades) Installation (HSAIAHAE), Industrial & Commercial Luminaires (High-bay, Low-bay, Troffers, Downlights) (IMAGAIAA)
Keywords
Where 18 Degrees is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
18 Degrees business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Lighting Design Services: Professional lighting design consulting services for construction projects across commercial, retail, cultural, and mixed-use sectors. Engages with architects, developers, and contractors throughout project lifecycle from concept to commissioning.
- 18 Circular (Lighting-as-a-Service): Circular lighting model where luminaires are installed, retrieved, refurbished, and redeployed. Reduces upfront capital cost for clients while minimizing waste and embodied carbon.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
18 Degrees product offering
Product offeringCore offering
18 Degrees is a specialist architectural lighting design studio delivering lighting schemes that perform technically, visually, and sustainably across commercial workplaces, retail, cultural, and mixed-use developments. The studio also operates 18 Circular, a lighting-as-a-service sub-brand that supplies high-quality, track-mounted, UK-made luminaires on a circular model of install, retrieval, refurbishment, and redeployment to reduce embodied carbon and lighting waste.
Product overview
18 Degrees is a specialist architectural lighting design studio offering a unified service portfolio centered on intelligent, sustainable lighting design across architecture and the built environment. The core offering is 18 Degrees Architectural Lighting Design Services, complemented by 18 Circular — a dedicated circular lighting-as-a-service sub-brand that provides reusable, refurbished luminaires and lighting strategies to eliminate waste and support ESG goals. The two offerings work together: the core design service delivers bespoke lighting schemes while 18 Circular enables clients to implement those designs through a sustainable, cost-effective rental and reuse model.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- 18 Circular: A circular lighting-as-a-service initiative that helps developers, landlords, and tenants reduce waste and carbon by avoiding strip-out and landfill. Offers high-quality, track-mounted, UK-made fittings that stay in circulation, installed, retrieved, refurbished, and redeployed.
Products and services
- Architectural Lighting Design Services Award-winning architectural lighting design services for commercial, retail, cultural, and mixed-use projects, delivered in collaboration with architects, developers, landlords, and contractors. Schemes are designed to meet technical performance, visual comfort, and sustainability certification goals such as BREEAM, LEED, WELL, SKA, WiredScore, and NABERS.
- 18 Circular A circular lighting-as-a-service offering that supplies high-quality, track-mounted, UK-made luminaires on an install-retrieve-refurbish-redeploy cycle. Designed for developers, landlords, and tenants to reduce waste, embodied carbon, and upfront capital cost compared to conventional lighting procurement.
Quantifiable outcome
- 85% reduction in embodied carbon at 7 Air Street
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use 18 Degrees
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
18 Degrees technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
18 Degrees partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- UK Green Building Council (UKGBC)core18 Degrees joined UKGBC as a member company, believing lighting design has a crucial role in reducing waste and carbon emissions in the built environment. The 18 Circular initiative is part of this commitment, helping eliminate lighting waste from Cat A office fit-outs by reusing and re-certifying luminaires across multiple building cycles.
- Donate-A-Lightcore18 Degrees donated £40,000 worth of downlights (4,000 units) to Donate-A-Light's reuse initiative, the largest contribution to date. The initiative matches surplus lighting stock with recipients including hospices, care homes and community organizations that cannot afford new lighting.
- Whitecroft LightingcoreWhitecroft Lighting provided innovative reusable Geopak packaging system to safely transport 4,000 downlights to Donate-A-Light's Manchester facility. Whitecroft is actively building reuse into their business models, designing for repair, refurbishment, and redeployment.
- Recolightcore18 Degrees participates in Recolight's Circular Lighting Live events. Paul Beale presented the 18 Circular initiative at the 2025 conference. Recolight is an industry advocate helping transform lighting into a circular economy.
- ID:SRminorCollaborated on Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer HQ at 100 Bishopsgate and BT One Braham projects for integrated lighting design within design teams.
- HassellminorCollaborated on Bridgepoint Advisers' London office project spanning seven floors of front-of-house areas.
- Conran and PartnersminorCollaborated on Author King's Cross premium Build-to-Rent development and Dock Shed lobby project at Canary Wharf.
- Morris+CompanyminorCollaborated on R7 King's Cross landmark mixed-use development lighting design for public-facing areas.
- Piercy&CompanyminorCollaborated on Drayton Green Church extension and Supermodels exhibition lighting design.
- SODAminorCollaborated on Boulevard Theatre Restaurant lighting design in Soho.
- The Crown EstatecorePartnered on 7 Air Street circular lighting upgrade project. The Crown Estate is prioritizing circular procurement over linear replacement, treating lighting as an asset to be retained, reused, and redeployed.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
18 Degrees competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- AECOM Lighting Design: Global infrastructure consultancy with a substantial lighting design practice spanning buildings, transport, and urban realm. A larger, broad-based competitor able to bundle lighting with wider built-environment services.
- Hoare Lea Lighting: UK building services engineering consultancy with a specialist lighting team serving commercial, cultural, and high-end residential projects. Competes with 18 Degrees on integrated MEP-driven lighting design engagements.
- Arup Lighting: Global engineering firm with a dedicated lighting design practice working on major built-environment projects worldwide. Competes for large-scale, technically demanding lighting design mandates that 18 Degrees also targets.
- Foster + Partners: Global architecture practice with integrated lighting design capability serving major commercial, cultural, and infrastructure projects. Represents an in-house alternative that can displace external lighting consultants on flagship schemes.
- BDP (Building Design Partnership): Large multidisciplinary design practice with an in-house lighting design team delivering workplace, healthcare, education, and infrastructure projects. Operates as a broader incumbent offering lighting as part of a wider architectural service.
Emerging players
- Atelier Ten: Environmental design consultancy focused on sustainability, lighting, and façade engineering. Overlaps with 18 Degrees on sustainability-driven lighting design and embodied-carbon advisory for commercial projects.
Direct peers
- Speirs Major: London-based architectural lighting design practice working across workplace, cultural, and public-realm projects. Direct competitor to 18 Degrees in the UK premium project market with comparable project scale and design-led positioning.
- Lighting Design International: Specialist London architectural lighting design studio with a portfolio spanning hospitality, retail, and cultural projects. Directly comparable in size and sector mix to 18 Degrees.
- PJC Light Studio: London-based architectural lighting design consultancy serving commercial, residential, and hospitality clients. Closely comparable boutique specialist competing for similar high-end project mandates.
- Michael Grubb Studio: Independent architectural lighting design studio with sustainability and human-centric lighting focus. Comparable boutique competitor with similar emphasis on technical performance and circular/sustainable design thinking.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
18 Degrees social profiles
Digital presence18 Degrees compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance7 records
18 Degrees financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
18 Degrees leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
18 Degrees funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
18 Degrees M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about 18 Degrees
What does 18 Degrees do?
18 Degrees is a specialist architectural lighting design studio delivering lighting schemes that perform technically, visually, and sustainably across commercial workplaces, retail, cultural, and mixed-use developments. The studio also operates 18 Circular, a lighting-as-a-service sub-brand that supplies high-quality, track-mounted, UK-made luminaires on a circular model of install, retrieval, refurbishment, and redeployment to reduce embodied carbon and lighting waste.
Is 18 Degrees a public or private company?
18 Degrees is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was 18 Degrees founded?
18 Degrees was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is 18 Degrees based?
18 Degrees is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does 18 Degrees make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Lighting Design Services are the primary driver. The others are 18 Circular (Lighting-as-a-Service).
Who are 18 Degrees's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are AECOM Lighting Design, Hoare Lea Lighting, Arup Lighting, Foster + Partners and BDP (Building Design Partnership). Atelier Ten is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Speirs Major, Lighting Design International, PJC Light Studio and Michael Grubb Studio.
Does 18 Degrees have an API?
No public API is recorded for 18 Degrees.
What industry is 18 Degrees in?
18 Degrees's product category is Architectural Lighting Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAJ, Lighting Design Services, with a secondary code of HSAOAFAM, Commercial Lighting Fixture Installation. Its NAICS code is 54141 and its SIC code is 1731.