Who We Are
Visual Terrain is an award-winning design firm specializing in Lighting Design for Architecture, Attractions and The Arts.
Visual Terrain develops creative lighting designs with a focus on the human experience. Our work is designed to last and be seen year after year.
Our lighting thoughtfully marries the needs of form, function, safety, engagement, and interaction to create compelling places, stories, and experiences.
Founded
1995 – California
Owners
Lisa Passamonte Green & David Green
Expertise
Lighting Design
Office Locations
California, Illinois, France
Completed
1000+ projects designed to date
Project Locations
Every continent but Antarctica
Certifications
As a 51% woman-owned and 49% minority-owned company, Visual Terrain is certified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) by the State of California Department of Transportation.
Awards
16 Themed Entertainment Association Thea Awards
12 Lighting Awards of Excellence (various organizations)
47 Lighting Awards of Merit (various organizations)
Click here for award details.
Project Types
Architecture
- Amphitheaters
- Casinos
- Corporate Headquarters
- Educational Institutions
- Historical Buildings
- Hospitality
- Houses of Worship
- Libraries
- Lifestyle Centers
- Municipalities
- Museums
- Nightclubs/Bars/Lounges
- Performance Venues
- Resorts
- Restaurants
- Retail
- Site & Infrastructure
- Spas & Fitness Centers
Attractions
- Aquariums
- Area Development
- Corporate Events & Fund-Raisers
- Family Entertainment Centers, including:
- Arcades
- Black Light Bowling
- Mini-golf
- Guest Services
- Individual Attractions, including:
- Coasters
- Dark Rides
- Parades
- Theaters (2D, 3D, 4D, 5D)
- Walk-throughs
- Interactive Lighting Experiences
- Click for Luminous Terrain
- Location Based Entertainment
- Museums and Traveling Exhibits
- Planetariums & Science Centers
- Theme Parks
- Water Parks
- Zoos
Arts
- Award Shows
- Concert and Music Productions
- Dance Shows
- Galas
- Live Events
- Nighttime Spectaculars
- Product Launches
- Public Art
- Theatrical Productions
Services
Lighting Design, including:
- Design from Blue Sky to Opening Day
- Lighting Layouts/Presentations
- Custom/Themed Fixture Design
- Equipment Specifications
- Lighting Design Documentation
- Renderings & Pre-visualization
- Mockups
- Lighting Control System Design
- Bidding & Negotiation support
- Construction Administration
- Installation Supervision
- Focus & Programming Efforts
- As-Built Documentation
- Germicidal Lighting Consultation
- Photometric Calculations
- Video-Driven LED Systems
Our strategic distribution and integration partners also provide:
- Procurement Services
- Cost Quotations
- System Integration
Our Competitive Advantage
With our proprietary process and our team of strategic partners in design, procurement and integration, we will help you develop, implement, and execute your lighting design within a budget, with no value engineering. Our process ensures you get the design you paid for.
Visual Terrain is an independent lighting design firm, which means we abide by strict rules of ethics and do not sell or install lighting equipment. It also means that we are not beholden to any manufacturers, lighting reps, dealers or distributors and our clients can be assured that the designs we develop are based on research and expertise and most importantly – free from conflicts of interest.
For more information on our amazing team, click here.
For more information on our strategic alliances, click here.
Methodology & Design Objectives
Every project has a compelling story to tell and unique vision. It is our objective to express that story and image with the lighting. Lighting can enhance the human experience and encourage us to interact with all of the various elements of the story. Lighting can also improve way-finding throughout a facility, celebrate the architectural features of a project, aid in place-making, and make a project’s identity an engaging experience.
Our methodology in designing and offering a solution for supplying the lighting system is structured to ensure the Owner gets the results of the design they purchase.
- We develop the equipment specifications and performance criteria with careful consideration of the long-term maintenance concerns, operating costs, sustainability issues, power consumption and ease of replacement.
- We implement “green” lighting solutions in our design whenever possible, minimizing energy usage, maintenance and the carbon footprint of the lighting over the lifetime of the project.
We will create a manageable system that will allow the lighting to sustain the same look in the years to come as it does when first realized. - We have developed strategic alliances with several partner companies, so the Owner can purchase the fixtures we specified for a fair and competitive price. This eliminates the usual negotiations between lighting representatives in different territories, and reduces the likelihood that the local distributors will try to package the project and supply products that simply do not meet the design intent. It also guarantees the Owner will get the design we created specifically for this project.
- We believe that there is value in being free to specify the products that are right for each project and that it is essential our distribution partner recognizes the specification must be held and not substituted.
- We believe that there is value in working with our partners on the Owner’s behalf, to identify cost-saving alternatives whenever possible and frequently aid in identifying better procurement strategies or fixture alternatives with the various lighting manufacturers.