Inside STUDIOI: Lighting Design

Meet Jelena Kadric – Head of Lighting

With the Lighting Department established within STUDIOI in 2025, Jelena Kadric has led its growth from an initial team of five to a nine-member team based in Sarajevo. As Head of Lighting (Group), she focuses on building a multidisciplinary team that combines design thinking, technical expertise, and a strong culture of collaboration. In this conversation, she shares the department’s journey, her approach to leadership and professional development, and her vision for the future of lighting design at STUDIOI.

A Young Department, A Strong Foundation

The Lighting Department was officially established within STUDIOI in January 2025, beginning with a team of five motivated lighting professionals. Since then, the department has grown steadily, expanding both its expertise and its role within the company. Through close collaboration with our multidisciplinary teams, we’ve built a strong foundation for delivering thoughtful, integrated lighting design that enhances the overall quality and experience of our projects.

A Defining Moment

Absolutely. Looking back, I believe the defining moment came when our newly established team took on a project exceeding one million square metres, involving a wide variety of asset types, complex project guidelines, and an exceptionally demanding delivery schedule.

For such a young and compact team, successfully organizing the workflow, developing design concepts, and delivering detailed lighting solutions within such a challenging timeframe was a major achievement. It was not only the scale of the project that made it significant, but the fact that it was our very first project of that magnitude. That experience required patience, resilience, professional maturity, and a genuine willingness to embrace the challenge. Looking back, it was the moment we realized that the department had truly matured and established itself within the company.

Growing from Sarajevo

At the moment, our entire Lighting team is based in Sarajevo, where all nine team members work closely together. Having everyone in one location has allowed us to build strong collaboration, maintain consistent design standards, and respond efficiently to the needs of projects across the company. As the department continues to grow, we remain focused on strengthening our expertise while supporting projects across our international offices from our Sarajevo hub.

A Team Built on Diverse Expertise

One of our greatest strengths is the diversity of experience each team member brings. Everyone joined the department with a strong background in a different area, allowing us to build a well-balanced team with complementary skills.

Some team members came from the lighting sales industry, bringing valuable knowledge of the market, product performance, and the technical capabilities of a wide range of lighting solutions. Others brought outstanding software expertise, whether in BIM, CAD, or presentation tools, which has significantly enhanced our workflows and project delivery.

We also have architects by professional background, with Lighting Design as their area of specialization. Their architectural education and experience bring a strong understanding of technical standards, detailing, spatial design, and graphic communication, helping us create clear, well-structured, and visually compelling design packages. In addition, team members with electrical engineering backgrounds contribute a deep understanding of how lighting systems function and integrate within the wider building infrastructure.

Together, these diverse backgrounds fit together like pieces of a puzzle. They allow us to learn from one another, continuously develop our skills, and build strong connections between design, technical expertise, and practical project delivery.

Trust, Growth & Collaboration

I would describe our internal culture in three words: trust, growth, and collaboration. My goal has always been to give every team member the opportunity to grow by stepping slightly beyond their comfort zone, because that is where real development happens. Sometimes a small push is needed to build confidence, courage, and the ability to embrace new challenges. For me, this is also about creating future leaders within the team. By encouraging ownership, creativity, and continuous learning, we develop motivated professionals who are ready to grow, support each other, and bring new ideas forward.

Thinking Beyond Lighting

Our guiding philosophy is to develop well rounded professionals who can think beyond their specific area of expertise and understand how complex projects function as a whole. Our goal is not only to teach technical standards, data, or design skills, but also to develop the mindset needed to navigate challenges effectively. We focus on building organizational skills, encouraging out of the box thinking, and helping team members understand how to find solutions and approach problems with confidence. Ultimately, we believe that with the right mindset, collaboration, and willingness to learn, nothing is impossible.

Designing Through Collaboration

The way our company is structured naturally encourages close collaboration with other disciplines on a daily basis. Constant communication, coordination, and working together in parallel are simply part of our everyday workflow. We truly value the expertise and input of engineers and colleagues from other disciplines, while also focusing on finding solutions that work well for everyone involved.

For us, successful projects come from open conversations, mutual respect, and the ability to combine different perspectives into one strong and unified result.

Leading Through Ownership

My leadership approach is built around giving people the freedom and confidence to take ownership, whether it is a specific task or an entire project. I believe people grow the most when they are trusted with responsibility and encouraged to make decisions. At the same time, it is important that everyone knows they are not alone. I want every team member to always feel my guidance, support, and voice when they need direction or reassurance. Whether it is a small detail or a major challenge, they know there is always someone they can rely on.

Personally, I believe strong leadership means creating confident and independent professionals while maintaining a culture of trust, support, and continuous growth.

Every Project Has a Role

It is very difficult to highlight a single project, because every project has had its own importance and has contributed to the growth of our department in a different way. Some projects have been significant because of the complexity of understanding and applying specific technical requirements, such as master plan street lighting design. Others have challenged us creatively, giving us the opportunity to explore and express our design approach through landscape lighting and façade lighting solutions. Some have been especially valuable because of the collaboration with high profile clients and the level of coordination they required. Rather than one specific project defining our impact, it is the variety of challenges, experiences, and opportunities across all our projects that has shaped the identity and growth of our department.

Bringing Expertise Together

Our role was to coordinate and guide the lighting design process to ensure the final outcome was successful for both the company and the client. The main challenge was finding the right balance between the project requirements, the client’s expectations, and the strengths of each team member. My responsibility was to bring out the best in every individual, support the team throughout the process, and ensure that our collective expertise, creativity, and technical knowledge came together into a valuable final product.

Each project presented its own unique challenges, but overcoming them required collaboration, adaptability, and the ability to combine different perspectives into one clear and successful solution.

Digital Tools for Lighting Design

Our department relies on a combination of advanced digital tools that support both creativity and efficiency throughout the design process. Tools such as Revit, DIALux, AutoCAD, AI-based solutions, Photoshop, and Adobe Creative Suite play an important role in developing, testing, visualizing, and communicating our lighting concepts.

Looking Ahead

As the industry continues to evolve through sustainability goals, smart technologies, and new ways of experiencing spaces, we see lighting becoming an even more integral part of architectural design. Our ambition is to continuously develop our expertise, embrace new technologies, and strengthen collaboration with other disciplines to create solutions that are not only technically successful but also meaningful for the end users.