We shape light for architecture, atmosphere, and human experience.
Beyond Lux is an architectural lighting studio focused on how light shapes experience, perception, and atmosphere within the built environment. We approach lighting as part of the designed environment itself, not as a decorative layer or technical afterthought.
Our work is grounded in a clear belief: light should support how spaces feel, function, and are remembered. We collaborate with architects, interior designers, developers, and ownership teams to create lighting environments that are intentional, refined, and closely integrated with the design vision.
With decades of combined experience, our team supports projects from early concept through construction, helping preserve design intent while bringing clarity to the details that make lighting feel natural, purposeful, and complete.
Beyond Lux is a focused studio of lighting designers who bring together design sensitivity, technical expertise, and a shared commitment to shaping and controlling light as part of the designed environment. Our team brings senior-level attention to each project, with a collaborative structure that allows design ideas to move clearly from concept through construction.
Studio Director
Focus: Design leadership, architectural integration, client strategy
Shawn starts each project with a simple question: how should this space feel? He sees light as more than visibility. It is a way to shape human experience.
Shawn brings creative direction, technical depth, and practical execution to the studio. He is Lighting Certified, a LEED Accredited Professional, a licensed Professional Engineer, and a longtime Penn State instructor. His work helps project teams translate architectural intent into lighting strategies that feel intentional, coordinated, and deeply connected to the people who experience them.
Beyond the Studio: Shawn enjoys home improvement and spending time with his family at the beach
Senior Architectural Lighting Designer
Focus: Corporate Environments, Retail, Hospitality, Exterior Lighting, Controls Integration
Dave approaches lighting with a careful understanding of how spaces work, not just how they look. He believes the best lighting strategies respond to the client’s operations, the design intent, and the way people physically and emotionally move through an environment.
With deep experience in architectural lighting, daylighting, exterior lighting, and integrated controls, Dave brings thoughtful project management and technical coordination to the studio. His work is precise, purposeful, and grounded in the practical details that help lighting feel comfortable, responsive, and aligned from concept through completion.
Beyond the Studio: Dave loves spending time with his family. Especially on ski trips or out on the lake in their pedal boat.
Senior Architectural Lighting Designer
Focus: Mixed-use, Healthcare, Hospitality, Public Environments
Ben sees lighting through the lens of the people who will move through, work in, and remember a space. His approach balances visual comfort, architectural intent, and the emotional qualities that make lighting feel both purposeful and natural.
With a master’s degree in lighting and deep experience as both a senior lighting designer and project manager, Ben brings thoughtful leadership, technical rigor, and careful attention to detail to the studio. He works closely with clients and project teams to develop integrated lighting strategies that are visually engaging, well-coordinated, and closely aligned with the architecture and experience of each project.
Beyond the Studio: Ben is no stranger to teamwork… he comes from a large family with 12 siblings, whose names all start with the letter “B!”
Lighting Designer
Focus: BIM integration, Documentation, Technical Coordination
Ashley approaches lighting through the details that make a design work. She is especially attentive to how light is coordinated within the architecture, how information is communicated, and how each decision supports the larger project intent.
With a background in CADD/BIM and specialized engineering technology, Ashley works as a lighting designer across layout development, fixture coordination, lighting calculations, BIM integration, documentation, and project communication. She brings a clear, collaborative approach to projects, helping lighting ideas move from concept into coordinated documentation that supports design intent, construction clarity, and the overall project experience.
Beyond the Studio: As an avid gamer, Ashley enjoys stretching her problem-solving skills and finger dexterity playing a wide variety of video games.
Lighting Designer
Focus: Visualization, Parametric Design, Daylight Analysis
Lauren approaches lighting as a way to help people understand and experience space. She is especially interested in how visualization can communicate the impact of light, refine its integration with larger building systems, and show how lighting can leave a lasting impression on people.
A graduate of Penn State University’s Architectural Engineering program with an emphasis in lighting design, Lauren is an EIT who brings strong visual communication and technical exploration skills to the studio. Her work supports lighting visualization, modeling, and parametric light/daylight analysis, helping project teams study alternatives and communicate lighting intent with clarity.
Beyond the Studio: Lauren enjoys scrapbooking as a creative outlet and spending time outdoors, running and playing pickleball with friends.
Beyond Lux operates as part of Barton Associates, Inc., a 100% employee-owned consulting firm with decades of experience across the built environment. Through this structure, our lighting studio has access to broader engineering, BIM, project management, administrative, and technical resources.
We begin by defining what light needs to accomplish. Through early visioning, precedent, sketches, fixture studies, and design narratives, we help establish a lighting direction that supports the project’s atmosphere, function, architectural intent, budget, and maintenance goals.
We design for the whole person. Beyond visibility and energy performance, we consider how light influences physiology, mood, perception, productivity, comfort, and the broader environment we share.
Lighting is most successful when it feels native to the space. We coordinate closely with architecture, interiors, landscape, materiality, ceilings, details, and user experience so light becomes part of the designed environment rather than an added layer.
We translate design intent into coordinated project information. Our work may include fixture research, lighting calculations, specifications, schedules, details, controls coordination, and documentation that supports bidding, construction, and long-term performance.
We help align lighting controls, dimming, color quality, energy goals, and operational needs with the design intent. The result is lighting that is not only beautiful, but usable, adaptable, and coordinated.
Lighting depends on execution. During construction, we support the project team through submittal review, RFI responses, site observations, mockups, focusing, and coordination to help preserve the design intent through final installation.
