Getting to see Structura up close
One of the things I missed most during the pandemic was the opportunity to visit factories. Many of the factories I work with did their best to “bring us inside” with video tours and remote training sessions, but there’s really nothing like being there and getting to see the machines do their thing in person. Getting to ask off-the-cuff questions as they pop into your head and really experience the scale lighting products are made on.
Structura’s Aura Fixture in a rectangle.
I am a firm believer that it’s important for designers, especially younger designers, to get a feel for what the manufacturing process is like. It gives all of us a deeper understanding of what we should expect from factories. The great factories have the capacity to become your partner - working to deeply understand what your project needs and how they can modify their products to meet those needs.
An 18-foot diameter Aura ring going through quality control testing, prior to shipping, this one is designed for a Structura outdoor catenary system.
That capacity was found in abundance when I got to visit Structura’s facilities last week. For those who don’t know, Structura is known in the industry for its unique capabilities around wooden lighting poles and fixtures. Yes, they offer metal poles and a growing library of lighting fixtures, but it’s the unique materiality that makes Structura so special.
Accoya wood is the raw material behind structura's wooden lighting poles and fixtures.
Visiting the factory I got to see what it takes to make these exceptional products. When you go to lighting manufacturers you typically see metal work, some variety of cutting, welding bending and sometimes punch pressing and CNC work depending on the sophistication of the manufacturer. And of course, making a modern fixture is closer to making a computer than an old-school light, so assembly is very important.
“When the supply chain faltered...we started cutting our own parts to keep projects moving. ”
It’s exceedingly rare to come across a 6-axis cutting tool capable of cutting a computer guided shape into a 30 foot piece of lumber. That’s the kind of capacity Structura brings to their projects.
But there’s something else that you can only really get when you visit a manufacturer - getting to meet the people. What I try to observe are the relationships between the people on the floor. What I saw over and over was the folks in the leadership of the company, the ones with an ownership stake, knew the people working on the floor as closely as they did anyone in management. It’s a close-knit team at Structura where there’s a fluid conversation between the design engineering team and the production team, I had the pleasure of being part of one of those conversations and I was deeply impressed by how open, fluid and constructive the discussion was.
Round lighting poles, sanded and given a "furniture quality" finish.
Every manufacturer trip has an entertainment component. The nice dinner or the activity or show you’re going to see as part of your trip. Usually, those trips include the salespeople. So imagine how refreshing it was to be sitting in an amazing Kansas City Steakhouse not with salespeople who want to talk numbers, but with the engineers who design and build these products. Just the fact that that’s who Shannon decided to include in our dinner spoke volumes to me about who is seen within the company and it was fantastic.
If I haven’t hammered it home, I loved coming out to Stuctura and can’t wait to do it again. Structura is working to program out a series of specifier trips and once I have details, I’ll be sharing them with my customers. In the meantime, here are some products you should keep in mind
