Outdoor wall sconces have been one of Alva’s most successful categories.  12+ years ago, it was clear that there was a lack of high-quality Modernist wall sconces for exterior applications.  We chose to embark on this category, we knew architects and designers were seeking fantastic sconces for their building facades.

We’re all intrigued by a sliver of light.  It may be that sliver of light under a door, or that thin crack of light under a window shade.  There is something magical about a thin sliver of bright white light.

We took this magical image, turned it into our newest addition to Alva.

Sadie is Alva’s newest addition to our outdoor sconce collection.  It is a clean modern form, narrow and generates ambient light.

When designing Sadie we realized narrow is a popular trend. We decided to go ultra narrow here, providing a sleek profile ideal for a myriad of applications.

Tess and Tessie Slotted are Alva’s best sellers. Architects and designers immediately fall in love with this product. The fact is, this is the one product we always take on a sales call.

Over a decade ago we decided there was a clear need for a large-scale exterior sconce that would graze the building surface - Why?

There are 100s of lighting fixture manufacturers today. Each day we discover companies we’ve never heard of before. Clearly there is tons of competition in the lighting industry. Specifiers use our products because we are different - Let’s look at what makes Alva product special.

There has been a change in how we live these past 5 years. Both the Pandemic, the cost in housing prices, and interest rates have changed the residential landscape in North America. Multi-Family residential housing is an active trend which is not stopping soon.

We started Alva 13 years ago. Initially our goal was to produce the very best optically sound LED wall sconces. However, we quickly realized there was an apparent void in the lighting industry. Very few were making high quality large scale architectural sconces for outdoor use.

Our Top 3 Businesses at Alva Lighting are (1) Healthcare, (2) Large scale exterior, and (3) Multifamily.

We’ve been at this for 13 years. We’ve listened to our customers and take their input seriously. This blog will be the first of three, focusing on what the Healthcare Specifier is looking for.

Apartment buildings, condominiums and senior living facilities typically have corridors. The means to light these corridors has been to use surface mounted cans. Why? Surface mount cans are a cost-effective way to produce light, easy to install and basically gets the job done. This past decade there has been a new trend for multifamily. The new trend has been to install a light alongside the door.

12 years ago, Alva Lighting was born.

Our first fixtures were interior wall sconces. LED technology was new for the decorative lighting industry, we knew there was a strong need for high performance fixtures maximizing the benefit of LEDs.

As you know the three markets where Alva does best are large scale exterior, healthcare and multi-family. We’ve been focusing on these three markets for a decade, have learned what customers want. Let’s look at what specifiers doing healthcare projects request:

Tex was the first outdoor light fixture for Alva. When we first introduced Tex, our intent was to:

Build large scale exterior. There clearly was a void when it came to large (60”) outdoor wall sconces. Architects and designers were looking for large scale modernist luminaires.

Over the past decade we’ve realized that Modernist fixtures do not work in every interior space. There remains a strong demand for traditional candelabra style sconces.

We continue to see candelabra style sconces in: Hotel corridors, Senior living, Healthcare, Lobbies & Restaurants

12 years ago Alva set up shop as a manufacturer of premium interior wall sconces. Over time we saw a new business rapidly developing called "multifamily”.