2022 McKim Mead and White Award for Craftsmanship

A cast bronze pier light installed in front of a rock wall garden, and the ceiling lantern installed in a limestone vaulted entryway.

A Suite of Cast Bronze Lighting

For Suzanne Tucker of Tucker & Marks, there was no off-the-shelf exterior lighting that would meet the distinct architectural requirements of her clients’ hilltop Italianate residence in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. So, over the course of a year, a suite of four lantern designs was developed and built for the monumental house overlooking the Bay. Brier Tomlinson at Tucker & Marks provided detailed hand drawings which Remains’ Custom Division was tasked to realize with myriad manufacturing techniques – spanning the use of antique master patterns to digitally sculpted 3-D prints.

A black and white hand sketch of the lantern body; and resin models of acanthus leaves to be used for the casting process.

From the veins of the acanthus leaves to the tiny curl of the finials’ pinecone scales, no detail was left unconsidered.

Images of the dry-fit process for cast bronze wall lanterns: a row of arched roofs with fish scale patterns, pine cone finials, and a side view of the fully assembled sconce.

The collection of fixtures, all sharing an assortment of classical elements scaled to their use case, was designed with traditional proportioning and the Vitruvian principles of Firmness, Commodity and Delight in mind. Inspected through the classicist’s lens, the lanterns score high marks. These fixtures display their clarity of form and assembly using core compositional themes of the classical idiom: biaxial symmetry, and the rhythmic contrast between large & small, concave & convex, and geometric & naturalistic.

A row of cast bronze wall lanterns, detailing the massive curved and ribbed arms, and the acanthus-leaf base of the pier mount lantern being assembled

Knowing the patinating effects of the Bay Area’s salty breeze, the design team chose a dark verdigris finish that will age gracefully over the next century of exposure. The durability of the fixtures’ construction and their living finish which embrace San Francisco’s environment are expertly mated with the evergreen delight of classical detailing.

A studio image of the cast bronze lantern family - the wall lantern, wall sconce, ceiling lantern and pier light.

We are honored to have been recognized by the ICAA for our work on this truly gratifying project. Our sincere thanks goes to the patrons, Suzanne Tucker and Brier Tomlinson of Tucker & Marks, and most of all our team of engineers, craftspeople, and project managers who are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence.

The McKim, Mead and White Award - a circular patinated bronze disk inscribed with the words Remains Lighting, shown in its case and next to it.

See more of our selected custom work by viewing the Custom Gallery.