Bespoke Lighting Specification Guide | MOSS

Specifying a made-to-order luminaire is not the same as selecting one from a catalogue. There is no stock to draw from, no warehouse to check, and no fixed article number to drop into a schedule. Instead there is a conversation, a drawing, and a production slot. Bespoke lighting specification therefore runs on a different timeline than off-the-shelf procurement, and it rewards architects who start it early.

This guide sets out what MOSS Objects needs from a specifying architect, what MOSS provides in return, and at which point each decision has to be fixed. It applies equally to a single pendant above a dining table and to a fifty-piece hospitality order.

One structural note before the stages: there are no agents, distributors or intermediaries between the specifying architect and the workshop. Questions about hanging height, canopy diameter or dimming compatibility are answered by the people who build the luminaire. In practice this shortens specification conversations considerably, and it means technical answers do not have to travel through a sales channel before they reach the drawing.

Stage one: the bespoke lighting specification brief

A commission begins with a brief. It does not need to be a resolved document. MOSS expects to contribute to the specification rather than simply receive a finished order. Five data points carry most of the weight.

Floor-to-ceiling height. This determines cable drop and, for vertical configurations, whether a design works at all. Standard cable length is 300 cm; Emily V10 and V12 ship with 400 cm as standard. Other lengths are made to order.

Target clearance. The distance from the underside of the pendant to the surface below: table, island, floor. This is the number architects most often leave open and most often need to revise later. Fixing it early prevents a second drawing round.

Number of luminaires and configuration. Whether the pendants sit individually or as a cluster changes the ceiling coordination substantially. Dune configurations with 16 or 20 shades require two canopies rather than one; Kosmos 6S and 6L likewise. This affects the reflected ceiling plan, not just the order.

Finish, or a shortlist. If the finish is not yet decided, request samples at this stage rather than later. More on this below.

Project handover date. MOSS is a small workshop and production capacity is finite. An architect working to a fixed completion date should secure a slot in the schedule rather than assume availability.

Project type (residential, hospitality, commercial) is worth stating too, because it changes which questions matter. A hotel lobby raises maintenance access and glare control; a private dining room rarely does.

Stage two: samples and technical data

Finish samples are free of charge for trade professionals, and they are worth requesting in every project where the finish is not already fixed from a previous job. Photographs do not convey how a lacquered surface behaves under a specific ceiling wash, and the difference between a semi-matte and a high-gloss shade in a north-facing room is not something a screen can show.

The standard sample set covers the lacquered finishes. Emily Oxid, a naturally aged patina rather than an applied coating: is sent separately, because its character is the point and it varies from sheet to sheet. Where multiple Oxid pieces are specified for one project, material is allocated at the point of order so that the batch stays consistent.

Standard finish counts: Dune is available in five standard finishes, Emily in seven, both with custom colours on request. Kosmos is hand-polished stainless steel with opal glass; Charlotte is solid brass with quartz glass.

Technical data sheets are available for every standard configuration and include fixture weight, canopy dimensions, cable length options, LED specification and dimming compatibility. Canopy dimensions in brief:

Emily I, Emily II and the Groups of Three to Thirteen: Ø 140 × H 50 mm.

Emily V6 to V12: Ø 200 × H 50 mm.

Dune, all sizes: Ø 190 × H 50 mm, with two canopies at 16 and 20 shades.

Kosmos 4S and 4L: Ø 150 × H 35 mm. Kosmos 6S and 6L: two canopies at Ø 150 × H 35 mm.

Charlotte: 1020 × 84 × 46 mm, linear.

On dimming: trailing-edge phase dimming is the standard specification and covers most residential and small commercial projects. DALI and Casambi are possible on request and should be raised in the brief rather than after production has started, because the driver and its placement change with the protocol. If ceiling void depth is limited, say so early, driver placement is one of the few things that cannot be resolved on site.

If a project requires photometric data or IES files, request them with the enquiry. They are not part of the standard data sheet.

Stage three: production and lead time

Once the specification is confirmed (model, size, finish, cable drop, number of units, canopy type), the commission enters the workshop queue. Every luminaire is made by hand in Berlin: bodies are formed, surfaces are lacquered or treated, electrical components are fitted and tested.

Standard lead time is eight to twelve weeks from confirmed order. Custom dimensions or unusual specifications can extend this to fourteen. Charlotte, with its solid brass body and quartz glass, runs longer at twelve to sixteen weeks.

Changes after production has begun may add lead time depending on what is already complete. Changing a cable length before the electrical fit-out is trivial; changing a finish after lacquering is not. This is the practical reason the brief stage matters more than it appears to: it is the last point at which every variable is still free.

For phased projects, production can be scheduled in batches to match a fit-out sequence. This needs to be agreed at order, not requested later, because it affects how material is allocated.

Stage four: delivery, installation and handover

Completed luminaires are packaged individually and delivered to the site or a nominated collection point. Each ships with mounting instructions and the relevant electrical certification. All MOSS luminaires are CE-marked; UL is available on request for North American projects and must be specified at order, not added afterwards.

Installation is carried out by the client’s electrician. The luminaire connects to a standard pendant flex with live, neutral and earth. Nothing about the mounting is proprietary, it is a standard junction box fixing, but the installing contractor should receive the mounting instructions and the electrical specification before delivery rather than on the day. For clustered pendants, multi-canopy configurations and anything involving a curved or offset layout, a coordination call with the electrician is included at no charge.

The most common avoidable problem on site is a junction box that does not sit where the drawing assumed. That is a reflected ceiling plan issue, and it is resolved on paper months earlier, which is the case for involving the workshop during the specification phase rather than after the ceiling is closed.

When to start

The useful moment to make contact is earlier than most specification timelines assume: concept stage, when ceiling heights are known but the reflected ceiling plan is not yet frozen. At that point a conversation about dimensions, finishes and lead time costs nothing and saves a revision later. Once the ceiling is detailed and the electrical layout is issued, the range of available answers narrows considerably.

Enquiries are answered within 24 hours. Send the room dimensions, the ceiling height and a description of the space, sketches and mood boards are welcome but not required, and you will receive a preliminary recommendation: which configuration is likely to work, what dimensions make sense, and whether a custom modification is worth considering.

If the question behind the specification is not how to specify but what makes a fixture worth specifying at all, that is covered separately in what makes a pendant light last a decade.

To begin a bespoke lighting specification for a live project, contact MOSS Objects directly at info@mossobjects.com.