Monumental lighting sculpture travels from London to Milan Design Week, constructed from 292 panels of recycled Czech glass
London, UK, April 2026
BEACON, the monumental lighting installation created by British designer Lee Broom in collaboration with Czech glass manufacturer BROKIS has won Installation of the Year at the ICON Awards 2026. The award was announced ahead of BEACON’s appearance at Salone del Mobile (Milan Design Week), where the installation will occupy Piazza San Babila from 20-26 April 2026.
ICON Magazine’s judging panel selected BEACON for “its compelling synthesis of historical reference and contemporary design, combining sculptural presence with thoughtful sustainability to create an installation that resonates both culturally and materially.”
The installation — a 4.9-metre-tall structure composed of 292 handcrafted BROKISGLASS panels weighing 584kg — reinterprets classic street lamps to form what resembles a vast sculptural chandelier. Every component is made from recycled waste glass generated during production at BROKIS’s Janštejn Glassworks in the Czech Republic.
From London landmark to Milan Design Week
BEACON first appeared at the London Design Festival 2025 as one of the festival’s official Landmark Projects, positioned on London’s Southbank. It then remained in place for the Southbank Centre Winter Light festival through January 2026, before being disassembled and transported to Milan for Salone del Mobile.
The installation’s appearance at Piazza San Babila places it in the heart of Milan’s design district during the world’s most significant annual design event. For Lee Broom — whose work has been exhibited at Milan Design Week since 2007 — the Milan presentation represents a homecoming of sorts.
“Beacon has been an incredibly rewarding project to create over the past year, so to bring it to a new city like Milan and to present it during Milan Design Week, which has played such an important role in my career, feels particularly meaningful,” says Broom. “I’m excited to see how the installation engages a new audience, and how people might encounter it unexpectedly as part of their daily lives. As a public artwork, I hope it resonates beyond the design community, connecting with the wider public.”
Engineering sustainability through recycled glass
The environmental credentials that impressed ICON Magazine’s judges stem from BROKIS’s approach to waste glass. During handblown glass production at Janštejn Glassworks, up to 30% of high-quality glass material is discarded as waste — an unavoidable consequence of the craft. Rather than treating these shards as waste, BROKIS developed BROKISGLASS, a process that transforms glass fragments into architectural materials through fusing technology.
For BEACON, 292 individual panels were created by collecting glass shards from production, sorting them by color and quality, melting them in a fusing kiln, and cutting them using water jet technology into shapes with a decorative pattern reminiscent of wood grain texture. Each panel weighs approximately 2kg and contributes to the total 584kg glass weight of the installation.
The sustainability extends beyond material sourcing. BEACON has been designed for disassembly and reuse — after its appearance at Salone del Mobile, components can be repurposed into individual light fixtures rather than being discarded. This circular design approach ensures longevity beyond the installation’s temporary appearances.
BROKISGLASS products hold Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certification based on Life Cycle Assessment methodology, providing measurable data on environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle.
Brutalist architecture meets Festival of Britain heritage
Lee Broom drew inspiration from the Royal Festival Hall, Victorian Dolphin Street Lamps, and the board-marked concrete of the Hayward Gallery — all architectural landmarks on London’s Southbank where BEACON first appeared. The installation references the Festival of Britain 1951, which was heralded as a “beacon of change” in post-war British design and culture.
The Brutalist-inspired structure reinterprets street lamp forms through contemporary glass craftsmanship, creating a dialogue between mid-20th century British design heritage and 21st century Czech glassmaking tradition. The result is a sculptural object that functions simultaneously as public art, lighting design, and architectural intervention.
ICON Awards recognize influential design and culture
The ICON Awards represent a new platform recognizing influential work across architecture, design, and culture. Entries were judged on innovation, execution, and overall impact, with winners selected by a panel of industry experts reviewing submissions from international design practices.
BEACON competed against installations from across the design world, with judges evaluating each entry for originality, precision, and clarity of vision. The Installation of the Year category recognized work that demonstrates exceptional creativity in temporary or permanent installation design.
Other ICON Award 2026 winners include Original BTC × Buchanan Studio for Lighting Design of the Year (Neotenic Collection), Studio Onesta for Surface Design of the Year (Di Canapa), Actiu for Furniture Design of the Year (Cuff), and Humanscale for Editor’s Choice Award (Diffrient Lounge).
BROKIS and Lee Broom collaboration
The partnership between BROKIS and Lee Broom brought together two design philosophies centered on craft, material quality, and longevity. BROKIS has been producing handblown glass lighting at Janštejn Glassworks since 1809, combining centuries-old glassmaking techniques with contemporary engineering. Lee Broom has built a reputation for luxurious furniture and lighting designs that reference British design heritage while pushing material boundaries.
BEACON represents BROKIS’s largest bespoke installation to date, requiring custom development of the BROKISGLASS production process to create panels at the scale and quantity needed for the structure. The collaboration also involved technical partners DDDesign for structural engineering and Materials Assemble for installation logistics.
Viewing BEACON at Salone del Mobile
BEACON will be on public display at Piazza San Babila, Milan, from 20-26 April 2026 throughout Salone del Mobile (Milan Design Week). The installation is accessible to the public and requires no ticket for viewing.
For UK interior designers and architects attending Milan Design Week, BEACON represents an opportunity to see large-scale application of BROKISGLASS, the recycled glass material available for bespoke architectural and design projects through BROKIS.
Further information available at www.brokisedc.com/inspiration/campaigns/beacon-at-milano-design-week.
No products in the basket.