A manufacturer with best-in-class offerings in the architectural lighting market: GRIVEN S.r.l.

Illumination plays a major role in the way people understand and experience architecture. Exterior lighting is considered as the medium that will allow us to see and appreciate the effort in the buildings around us adding emotional value to the architecture and creating a wonderful sensorial experience. Whether functional or decorative, a well-conceived lighting design must be able to reveal the true essence of the illuminated object through a mindful combination of lighting effects and techniques capable of reaching a striking visual impact.

As one of the most dynamic and successful manufacturers in the architectural lighting market, GRIVEN S.r.l., a private limited company founded in 1990 now part of the Experience Brands group, operates across a constantly increasing number of countries around the world to witness its truly international attitude. At GRIVEN, they have worked hard to build and maintain a reputation as ‘Italian Manufacturer of Choice,’ ensuring that their expertise and know-how translates into the most efficient, sustainable, and reliable architectural lighting equipment. Delivering custom solutions for any special lighting design need, GRIVEN’s state of the art collection of surface mount, modular, linear, recessed, underwater, and visual display projectors can enhance, with spectacular effects and the boundless versatility of its dynamic and green LED lighting source, the most demanding lighting installations.

In conversation with Luca Meinardi, CEO of GRIVEN S.r.l.

Q. Can you tell us about your services in brief?

GRIVEN Srl is one of the most dynamic manufacturers in the current outdoor architectural lighting market panorama. We design and engineer our standard and custom solutions specific to any lighting design need here in Italy. Based in Gaffney, SC, our sister company GRIVEN USA - like us, part of the Experience Brands group - helps us distribute the UL/ETL certified versions of our products in North America through a well-organized net of professional representatives. The motto “Designed in Italy, Made in the USA” states the attention that we dedicate to this important commercial area as well as our engagement in delivering market-oriented solutions. Our groundbreaking collection of LED surface mount, modular, linear, recessed, underwater, and visual display projectors is the ideal solution to enhance the most demanding architectural installations with both colored and white light. Our professional luminaires have lit up iconic architectural structures the world over – from historic buildings to the most modern bridges, from tall, multi-functional towers to amazing places of worship. Each architectural structure enhanced by our DMX-controlled lighting systems stands out for its illumination in bright, dynamic colors as well in tunable white light shades.

In November 2019, I answered the call of the international Experience Brands group, to which Griven belongs since 2015, to transform, through a new managerial approach, this formerly family-run Italian architectural lighting company into a modern, agile, and profitable firm. I have rapidly implemented an innovative global strategy by accurately defining new plans, resources, systems, and organizations in all company departments, with an eye on quality, sustainability, and made-in Italy tradition. I have also promoted the continuous research and development of new lighting solutions, both in the traditional company core business of RGBW color-changing illumination systems and towards the unexplored white light residential market. By implementing a new strategic direction, and despite the critical worldwide situation, 2020 has become the starting point for a complete renovation meant to reach the ambitious corporate goals.

Q. What are the challenges you had to face while developing your products? How did you overcome them?

As our offer is entirely based on hi-tech professional products, we always have to keep up with the latest developments through a continuous research and investigation process. Our R&D department is therefore always studying, testing, and comparing the newest technological findings to understand how and when they are ready to be translated into reliable, high quality, and innovative products.

Q. Product customization is the key to serving your customer base successfully. How flexible are your products and services for customization?

We are capable of customizing our standard designs down to the smallest detail according to the most different project specifications or lighting designers’ requirements, as we can rely on extreme flexibility, internal know-how, and rapid execution. We aim to offer a product that meets the different project requirements and a complete solution for the total peace of mind of lighting designers and specifiers. Now I want to go a step further. My main goal now is to get to manufacture bespoke solutions, further raising our current customization capability to excellence levels. 

Q. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful CEO?

Passion, leadership, vision. Passion is what makes you feel alive and leads you with enthusiasm through your everyday challenges. Leadership is what allows you to motivate and inspire. Vision allows you to be always a step ahead. They must go hand in hand to make you reach ambitious goals.

Q. If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

First of all, I would suggest taking time to come to know and understand the company and all of its fundaments in depth. I like to think that a company works just like an orchestra, where the conductor and every single player acting in perfect synergy are essential for the global success of the concert.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

In the next months, we will come up with an innovative, multi-functional digital catalog, which will display our architectural lighting philosophy in a truly innovative and outstanding way.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

We are a highly competitive player in the outdoor architectural lighting industry. Our next challenge is to extend our collection to the consumer and decorative exterior lighting market with a 360° product offer. We have recently engineered a new product collection of outdoor lighting fixtures specific for the enhancement of landscape and architectural details in residential or commercial areas through refined accent lighting. We wanted to transfer our long-term technical expertise into a straightforward, practical solution with a wide range of application purposes. More product novelties are already on their way and will soon come to light to complete the existing range.

About the leader behind the success of GRIVEN S.r.l. in his own words

In the last 23 years, I had the opportunity to develop my professional skills in different market fields through distinct job positions, mainly in the commercial, PR and marketing, general consultancy, and top management areas. I have lived and worked for two years in London and three in NYC, translating my abroad experience into a better understanding of international markets dynamics. I have focused my expertise in the lighting industry, where I had the chance to work side by side with world-leading designers and architects, both within renowned lighting companies and as an independent consultant.

“We aim at offering not only a product that meets the different project requirements, but also a complete solution for the total peace of mind of lighting designers and specifiers”