SURREY - Design Lighting Ltd. can perhaps best be described as a singular lighting showroom and wholesale lighting distributor. The company recently built a state-of-the art showroom. Company president Bill Dehaas calls it the most advanced showroom in North America. “We have a switching system that allows us to turn every single fixture on for the customer,” he says. “Yet only 10 per cent of the fixtures are on at any given time.”

The system is completely interactive, he adds, noting that customers can come in and use it. When they hit one switch it turns on the lighting systems connected to that switch. At the same time it turns off another set of lights. The 4,500 square foot showroom also boasts an enormous selection of lights by the top manufacturers in North America including chandeliers, decorative lighting, bathroom, hallway and bedroom fixtures, track lighting, recessed lighting and landscape lighting. Design Lighting is also the only showroom in the Pacific Northwest that boasts an interactive design centre with a full living room, dining room and kitchen right on the floor.

The living room even features a floor to ceiling fireplace. “People can actually see what the lighting looks like in its environment,” Dehaas says. Expanding its service to the general public is something new for Design Lighting. Since 2000, the company has been well known for serving the project/contractor side of the lighting market and is established throughout Western Canada as the major supplier to various high profile jobs, residential projects and custom homes. Dehaas estimates that about 85 per cent of the company’s work is with contractors and professional designers. Dehaas says, “We are probably the largest company in Western Canada when it comes to doing the high rise condo market. That is our strength. The showroom is something that we are increasing.”

A recent project for Design Lighting is Honua Kai, an 880 suite luxury tower in Maui by Intrawest, the first new project to be built in Maui for some years. Another high profile project currently under way is Sparkling Hill, a world class hotel at Predator Ridge in Vernon. Both are high profile, multimillion dollar projects that the company is working on in addition to various high rise buildings and private residences.

Dehaas has been in the lighting business for 28 years. In 2000 he decided to strike out on his own. That decision was such good one, he says he wishes he’d done it years earlier. He attributes the company’s enormous success to exceptional service. “Obviously service is key for us,” he says, pointing out that the company has its own truck and is not dependent on a courier service. That makes scheduling easier and it also makes deliveries more reliable. Including Dehaas, the company has three professional lighting sales people on staff and each sales person works with a lighting co-ordinator.

Dehaas explains, “When a contractor needs to check on something and can’t get hold of the sales person, the project coordinator is always in the office and answers those calls. We can get back to a customer with an answer to a question immediately. We always get back to the customer very quickly.” Service is extremely important to Design Lighting, Dehaas says, but so is price. Because the company does such a volume of business, it can also offer very sharp pricing on its products. The top interior designers in the Lower Mainland know about Design Lighting and work with the company extensively – companies like Portico Design, BBA Design, Insight Design, False Creek Design and Coordinated Hotel Interiors.

Dehaas says, “We’re very heavily involved with the design industry. Our customers really appreciate the hands-on service that we provide for them. The biggest thing in our industry is that when there is a problem on a job, it’s taken care of quickly. Service is key.”

Design Lighting does a great deal of work in the Lower Mainland but it also travels all over the province and beyond. Dehaas points out that there is also room for growth in the future. “I am passionate about lighting supply,” he says. “I’ve been in the business now for 28 years and I love coming to work every day. We have a fantastic staff. Our manufacturers tell us that we have the best staff in the industry and that gets confirmed every day. So yes – I love this job.”