The glass company Lasvit no longer makes just glass sculptures and lighting fixtures, but also facades

ov architects: Lasvit headquarters, 2019 (photo: Tomáš Souček)

Nový Bor - The glass company Lasvit, known primarily for its large glass sculptures and lighting fixtures, which it has been supplying around the world for 15 years, has also begun offering artistic facades. Interest in them unexpectedly surged following the success of the new company headquarters in Nový Bor, founder Leon Jakimič told ČTK. Lasvit completed the new complex in mid-2019. It was created by renovating two historic timber houses, complemented by two modern buildings. One of them is covered in glass tiles, while the other features a special black cement cladding in the same style.

The work of architects Jiří Opočenský and Štěpán Valouch won not only the main award in the Building of the Year competition for the Liberec region in 2020 but also the Czech Architecture Award. The glass building is also the winner of the Building of the Year in the Czech Republic 2020 competition, and it won the public voting for the best office building in the world. Based on demand, the company is now venturing into a new segment that utilizes artistically processed glass for facades. "We no longer want to just create jewelry for the inside, but the entire building will become a piece of jewelry," noted Jakimič.

Lasvit is currently at the beginning of this area, but the company has big plans. Jakimič estimates that this area could eventually account for half of the turnover of the Nový Bor company and may even become dominant in the future. However, project preparations take much longer. "For standard lighting installations and sculptures, it's a year and a half to two years, but a facade can take three to four years to prepare. Right now we have about 40 such projects in progress," he said. Therefore, according to him, the company also had to connect with technicians and experts from the fields of construction and insulation materials.

Lasvit combines the traditional art of Czech glassmakers with modern technologies and designs. It collaborates with leading Czech and global designers. Today, the company, with a billion turnover, employs around 320 people worldwide, and most of its production is aimed at foreign markets. According to Jakimič, interest has also recently increased in smaller Lasvit lighting fixtures and gift items, which the company offers worldwide through more than 600 partner stores and since last year also on its e-shop. "Previously, it accounted for five percent, now our collection accounts for 15 percent of turnover," he added.

In 15 years, Lasvit has also had to cope with a number of challenges - the company began operations in 2007, and in the following years, there was a recession; when the market stabilized, Brexit complicated the business, then came the coronavirus, and now the war in Ukraine. "But I never felt like giving up. Perhaps the worst period for us was about seven or eight years ago, paradoxically not during the crises. We thrive during crises; they force us to make unpopular savings that we otherwise wouldn't achieve, and I think this kind of business is somewhat immune to recession. Therefore, the crisis did not harm us," Jakimič said.

However, some investors panicked during COVID and postponed orders, while the pandemic complicated the completion of others. The company delivers huge installations, but due to lockdowns, it was often impossible to get its own technicians on site, forcing it to collaborate with local workers. "It was extremely complicated; we spent hours on the phone, literally guiding that person's hand remotely, and it got more expensive. It forced us to start designing simpler structures," Jakimič admitted. However, according to him, it also turned out that it is not always necessary to spend on flights and hotels and send one's people to the site; local partners can also be utilized.

Lasvit is not afraid of crises; according to Jakimič, they are prepared for them, but they are also troubled by high gas prices, which have tripled these costs. However, the company's orders have high added value, so energy prices do not have as much impact. "We are much more troubled by the situation in Asia with the constant lockdowns. We also lost about five to six percent of our turnover in Russia, which we completely abandoned after the attack on Ukraine, even though there is no embargo on our goods," Jakimič added. The decline in Asian markets, he says, is being balanced by orders from the USA. Thus, he believes it pays off for the company to have customers spread all over the world.