FMG: Softening Commercial Spaces with New Zealand Wool.
“Using New Zealand strong wool in our offices is a simple way to reflect who we are. We love that Lof has created something beautiful, practical and sustainable, and the traceability of their wool means we know we are directly supporting our clients too. These lights help create warm, welcoming spaces for our people while supporting the rural communities that are so important to FMG.”
Project: FMG Christchurch Headquarters & Hawke's Bay Office
Client: FMG New Zealand
Property & Procurement: Jono Parsons, Head of Property & Procurement
Architecture & Design: Designgroup Stapleton Elliott, Wellington
Lighting: Lof Wool Hoop range
When Wellington architecture firm Designgroup Stapleton Elliott and their client FMG approached Lof to specify lighting for their Christchurch headquarters and Hawke’s Bay office, the brief centred on creating workplace environments that reflected FMG’s connection to rural New Zealand. As a mutual, FMG exists for the benefit of the farmers and rural communities who own it. Specifying lighting made from New Zealand wool was a natural fit: bringing a material deeply connected to rural Aotearoa into the contemporary workplace. In a lovely full-circle connection, our long-time farm partner, Palliser Ridge, is also an FMG client. Working within Designgroup Stapleton Elliott’s vision for the spaces, Lof worked closely with Jono Parsons, Head of Property & Procurement at FMG, to bring our signature softness, texture and warmth to the interiors of both to both FMG’s Christchurch headquarters and Hawke’s Bay satellite office.
The Brief: Create beautiful, functional lighting clusters and focal points using New Zealand wool, bringing the material story of rural Aotearoa into FMG’s workplaces.
Our Approach
At Lof, we believe materials carry stories, and they need to perform. We design beautiful lighting that works harder within the space.
Our Wool Hoop lighting is designed around the natural properties of New Zealand strong wool, transforming a locally grown fibre into beautiful, functional lighting that brings softness into commercial interiors. For FMG, Wool Hoops were used individually and in clusters to create focal points within key shared spaces. The knitted wool adds warmth and texture overhead, softly diffuses light and provides ongoing, passive acoustic absorption - helping to soften sound in busy shared spaces.
A shared connection to wool
FMG has supported New Zealand farmers for almost 120 years, and its support for wool extends into the spaces it creates. Alongside specifying Lof lighting, FMG uses wool carpet and furnishings as standard across its offices. Their commitment to local materials and the people who grow them made this a particularly meaningful collaboration.
The Result
The completed spaces feel distinctly connected to rural Aotearoa. Lof’s Wool Hoop lighting creates sculptural focal points throughout the workplaces, bringing softness and texture overhead while helping absorb sound in shared spaces. Through its material choices, FMG is directly supporting the New Zealand wool industry and the farmers who grow it. The project shows how locally designed and grown wool lighting can help create commercial interiors that are both beautiful and functional, and of meaningful.
FMG Christchurch
Level 1, 3 Robin Mann Place
Christchurch 8053
fmg.co.nz
designgroupstapletonelliott.co.nz
Working on a commercial project?
Lof works with architects, interior designers and commercial clients on lighting for workplaces, hospitality and other shared spaces.
For specifications, 3D files, acoustic information or project pricing, contact Sophie at sophie@lof.nz.
