Bespoke
To commission a piece is to begin a conversation.
We accept a small number of private and architectural commissions each year. There is no catalogue. There is only the room, the maker, and the time it takes.
“Every commission begins in the same place: a room that deserves better light.”
A bespoke Penah piece is not an object you select from a catalogue. It is an object that does not yet exist — one that will be conceived for a specific room, at a specific hour, in a specific quality of light. We begin by listening.
Burcu works with a small number of private clients and design professionals each year. Each commission receives her full attention: from the first note, through the visit and the drawing, to the six to ten weeks in the atelier. The result is a signed, numbered lamp that belongs to no collection but yours.
6 – 10 weeks
Atelier timeline
Limited
Commissions per year
One of one
Every piece
What we make
Every form. Every scale. Every room.
Table Lamps
For the writing desk, the bedside, the forgotten corner.
Pendants
Above a long table, in a quiet stairwell.
Floor Lamps
Where the ceiling is high and the silence welcome.
Sconces
The most architectural form — lamp as wall.
Not every form suits every room. We will tell you honestly if we think another approach would serve you better.
The craft
Made by hand. Measured in hours.
Silk, pleated by hand
Gold bullion fringe, selected tassel by tassel
The frame, shaped before fabric
First light
Every piece begins with fabric. Burcu sources vintage and antique silks — English paisley, Italian damask, Ottoman brocade — hunting for lengths that carry a history of their own. Some have waited decades in a bazaar stall before the right form arrived.
The frame is built from solid brass, hand-patinated to the depth and warmth that each fabric demands. There are no off-the-shelf components. Each bracket, each canopy, each ring is worked by hand in the atelier or by a small circle of trusted craftspeople in Istanbul.
The fringe — bullion, silk floss, or ribbon, depending on the piece — is chosen last, tassel by tassel, against the finished shade. It is the final word. It is not always gold.
A bespoke commission
Vuslat — conceived for a hotel lobby in Bodrum.
The client came with a brief that described a room rather than a lamp: high ceilings, white plaster, the Aegean light at five in the afternoon. Burcu visited the space once, made a single drawing, and returned with the fabric.
Vuslat is a wide bell of bordeaux silk shot with fine gold thread, finished with a heavy cascade of bullion fringe. It took eight weeks from first note to installation. It has since been commissioned once more, in a slightly altered palette, for a private residence. No two are identical.
Vuslat · Bordeaux silk with gold thread · 2026
Five stages
From letter to arrival.
- I.
The Letter
It begins with a note — yours. Tell us about the room, the hour you live in it most, the light it already has. There is no form to fill, only a conversation to start.
- II.
The Visit
Where possible, Burcu visits the room — in person if you are in Istanbul, by long video call if you are not. We talk about ceiling heights, the colour of the plaster, the books on the shelf.
- III.
The Drawing
Within two to three weeks you receive a single hand-drawn proposal: the form, the fabric, the fringe. One drawing, one piece. We do not present options like a menu.
- IV.
The Making
Once the drawing is approved, the lamp enters the atelier. Six to ten weeks pass. We will send you one or two photographs along the way, but only if you would like to see them.
- V.
The Arrival
The piece is hand-delivered or carefully shipped, signed and numbered, with a small ledger card describing the materials used and the hours spent.
Before you write
What every commission involves.
Timeline
Six to ten weeks in the atelier, from approved drawing. Add two to three weeks for the initial proposal.
Commissions
We accept a small number each year. If we cannot take yours, we will tell you so in the first reply.
The drawing
One proposal. Not a mood board, not options — a single drawing that either feels right or begins a conversation about why it doesn't.
Changes
Minor adjustments to the proposal are expected. We ask only that you tell us honestly. We would rather revise than deliver something that unsettles you.
Delivery
Worldwide. The piece is crated by hand and insured in transit. We oversee the unpacking where we can.
Signed & numbered
Every piece leaves the atelier with Burcu's signature, a number, and a small ledger card recording the materials and the hours.
Certificate
A certificate of authenticity accompanies every commission — a formal record of the piece's provenance.
Pricing
Each commission is priced individually, according to the materials chosen and the scale of the piece. We discuss this openly in the first exchange.
Trade & Project
For Architects & Designers
Hotels. Restaurants. Residences. Cultural spaces. If your project needs lighting that tells a story, we would be glad to listen.
Burcu's background in interior architecture and restoration means she understands not just the lamp, but the room it will live in — the ceiling heights, the plaster colour, the hour the space is used most.
For trade and project enquiries, please write with a brief to info@penahdesign.com.
“The lamp arrives last. Before it, there is the room, the light it already has, and the room you wish it had. We listen for the difference, and make from there.”
Burcu Erdal · Penah Atelier, Istanbul
Begin the letter
Tell us about the room.
There is no obligation in writing to us. We reply to every letter personally, in the order in which it arrives.