CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF JOHN CULLEN LIGHTING
From 1981 – 2021, we’re delighted to be celebrating 40 years of lighting.
To mark this incredible milestone, as a team we are committing to take part in 40 unique challenges throughout the year. Each one will give back to society in a multitude of different ways, whether fundraising, a focus on wellbeing or planting trees.
We’ll be tracking our progress during 2021 as well as sharing our experiences and stories on Instagram. Look back here to see how this story develops throughout the year.
Earth Hour Challenge
To kickstart our challenges, the team took part in Earth Hour. From London to Dubai, we switched off our lights from for an hour, in support of nature and our planet.
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1981
Founded by John Cullen, a pioneer of lighting design at the height of the tungsten revolution. The first showroom was opened in Smith Street, London demonstrating lighting designed by Sally Storey.
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1983
John Cullen sadly passed away and Sally Storey took over as Design Director.
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1986
The showroom was moved from Smith Street to Fulham Palace Road.
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1990
The introduction of the first John Cullen halogen products that were designed in house and manufactured in the UK.
The 50W Polestar was the smallest downlight on the market, a third of the size of downlights before which used the 80 watt Par 38 lamp. The introduction by John Cullen of the double black baffle – black inner to reduce glare and lamp recessed into the ceiling to prevent even more glare – revolutionised the downlight ensuring a much more discreet unobtrusive way of lighting the home.
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1992
The showroom was moved to a single unit on the famous Kings Road, London.
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1994
Our warehouse was opened for the storage and dispatch of products. The first of the installation of our lighting products were installed on a Superyacht.
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2000
Sally Storey released her first book titled “Lighting: Recipes and Ideas”.
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2006
Sally Storey released her inspirational second book titled “Lighting by Design” at the start of the LED revolution. Our first LED was launched as the “LED Polestar”.
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2008
Sally Storey released her aspirational third book titled “Perfect Lighting” whilst the warehouse space was doubled to accommodate the growth of the company.
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First LED garden light fittings, the Kew spotlight and Hampton Flood light were introduced into the range. Being just 1W each, this heralded being able to light a small garden for 60 watts, less than a conventional light bulb!
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2012
The showroom was moved to a double fronted showroom with a basement design studio along the King’s Road in London. This is where our “John Cullen House” took shape and became an Inspiration Centre for lighting ideas.
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2014
A new John Cullen logo was unveiled.
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Lighting of Marcus Barnett’s award winning show garden at Chelsea flower show, followed by two award winning gardens for Hay Joung Hwang in 2016 and 2018.
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2016
John Cullen Lighting celebrated 35 years and opened the new Middle East office in Dubai with a small team.
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2018
The quest to miniaturize our products started when the 50 Polespring downlight range was made smaller and the 40 range was born. This was coupled with the new versatile Vorsa spotlight range with over 200 variations to choose from.
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2018
Our India division was opened working closely with local architects and interior designers. The business was also ISO 9001 accredited.
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2018
Growing our international reach with a European team, doubling our team in Dubai, new worldwide distributors and a new Studio in Paris
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We once again reinvented the downlight genre with the even smaller 30 range. The new design has all the functionality and adaptability you have come to expect from the 50 and 40 range but in a new miniature downlight.
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2020
With the launch of the British Design House in Dubai with select UK partners and distributors, a new website and new branding was unveiled.