The questions that come up
before a commission.

Lead time

From signed approval, a typical piece runs about six weeks in the studio — printing, finishing, integration, and a quiet dark-room QA pass before the object is packed. Form size, surface material and LED sourcing can each shift that window, particularly over the Finnish holiday weeks. The studio keeps it short by design: one maker, one printer, one finishing bench, working on a small number of pieces at a time rather than a roster.

Pricing and payment

There is no price list. Every piece is a project, anchored to its form, size, surface finish and integrated LED specification. A short written brief opens the conversation; after a first exchange the studio returns an indicative range and the questions that would shape the final figure, before any commitment on either side.

Payment runs in three stages, tied to the phases on the process page. 40 % on commission, once the design, materials, dimensions and outline schedule are approved — this reserves production time and starts the preparatory work. 40 % at technical approval, when the final structure, materials and finish are signed off and manufacture begins. 20 % on completion, once the piece is finished, tested and released. Delivery follows the final payment, so the client never pays the balance before seeing the completed work.

Because each piece is made individually by hand, the workshop time needed for finishing, adjustment and testing varies. Production work required to reach the agreed result is included in the quoted price. Substantial changes to the approved design, dimensions, materials or finish requested after production has started are quoted separately in advance, and begin only on written approval.

CE conformity and electrical safety

Every luminaire runs on a 12–24 V system fed by a certified driver or power supply, so the sculpture itself carries low voltage only. The studio is the legal manufacturer of the finished luminaire, carries out the required CE testing and issues the EU Declaration of Conformity for each piece. Component declarations for the driver and LED modules are kept on file and referenced in the product DoC. The compliance page holds the procurement-grade summary.

Dimming

A single sculptural luminaire ships with manual dimming, set to the right output during installation. DALI-2 control is always a separate installation project of its own: it needs additional equipment, and whether that technology can be built into a particular sculpture has to be decided while the piece is still being designed. If a piece needs to join a DALI-2 system, raise it at the brief stage — not at install.

Mounting, weight and difficult positions

On demanding sites the fixing is designed with the piece, not after it. The base or bracket is shaped for the specific position, and the body can be built in carbon fibre where lightness is the deciding factor — a sloped ceiling, a long reach, a wall or ceiling that cannot take load. The exact position needs to be settled early, because it changes the structure of the piece and not only its bracket.

Photometric data and files

The studio does not release the original 3D models of the pieces; each is an individual work and the model is part of its value. Technical characteristics — output, colour temperature, CRI, driver detail — are shared on request as a piece takes shape.

One point of register worth being clear about: these are accent objects, not room lighting. The output class is deliberately small, and a sculpture is not specified to light a space on its own. Spots aimed at the piece are a common and welcome companion, and those can carry a share of the ambient load.

Mock-ups and samples

A mock-up is a visualisation: the 3D model of the piece placed into a photograph of the actual room, at the angle it will be seen from. A physical sample object is produced only in exceptionally well-argued cases, and it is priced at roughly half the final price of the piece, excluding installation — because a sample is itself a piece, made once, by the same hand.

International shipping

Finished pieces are crated and shipped from Savonlinna with the customs paperwork each region asks for — the maker handles the logistics personally for each commission. The crate includes install guidance and a remote-support line for the fitting team on the day; if a project is further afield, the studio coordinates with a local electrician so the piece lands the way it was photographed.

Working alongside an architect

Architects are part of how the studio likes to work. AIHIO reads drawings, moodboards and material specs carefully and designs to the interior rather than against it. Bringing the architect into the brief early is welcomed: renders of proposed forms and photographs of surface mock-ups are shared throughout, so the piece is settled together rather than handed over at the end.

After installation

Every piece ships with dimming and driver documentation, the replacement LED module specification, and surface-care notes for the chosen finish — plaster, lacquer, or metal leaf. The studio stays reachable directly for any issue that comes up after install, and the integrated electronics carry a warranty. A commission is treated as the beginning of a long relationship with the object, not a delivery.

Still deciding?

Tell us about the room.

If a question here is not answered, it is worth asking directly — the reply comes from the maker, not a form.