A new place for the retro collection: moving the museum and transforming 1500 m² of space
The relocation of the collection of vintage cars from Dnipro to Lviv region presented the team with a specific task: to transform a 1500 m² building in Sokilnyky into a full-fledged exhibition location. A project of this scale required clear zoning and calibrated lighting, the role of which was not only to illuminate the premises, but also to highlight the exhibits as central objects.
The design project for the new museum area was developed by the KOSHULYNSKYY & MAYER office. The architects outlined the functional structure of the premises: an exhibition, a photo zone, a shop, a presentation area and a café. Each of these components of the area has its own usage scenario, and accordingly the requirements for the design were different.
The Vision Lighting team of lighting designers faced a challenge: a voluminous request was received on July 24, and the museum's opening was scheduled for October 4. Of the input data, only a video of the object and a plan with zone markings were available. There was no ready-made lighting concept - only a list of questions for discussion with the architects.
Despite the tight deadlines, the task turned out to be more interesting than difficult for the Vision Lighting team. Moreover, project manager Yevgeny Kavaler notes: “The tight deadlines helped us focus on the essence and make accurate decisions faster.” This was made possible not least thanks to the coordinated work with the architects. KOSHULYNSKYY & MAYER did not set rigid frameworks for lighting, which opened up the possibility of finding individual lighting solutions for each zone.
Various lighting solutions in the exhibition and presentation areas. Photo: Andriy Shurpenkov
It was the architects' willingness to listen to expert vision that became decisive in shaping the face of the project. In particular, this allowed for the largest departure from the original idea, which envisaged lighting most of the zones with light panels, to be agreed upon. After joint searches, these plans were abandoned in favor of linear structures as the main solution for the zones with cars. The use of light panels was limited, and they were given a clearly defined role: to emphasize the main focus of the exposition - the rotating platform.
Accuracy, integrity, responsibility — three words with which Yevhen Kavaler characterizes the work on the museum
The fruitful cooperation between the KOSHULYNSKYY & MAYER bureau and lighting designers laid the foundation for the result, which was later appreciated far beyond the borders of Ukraine.
The main focus of the exhibition is a rotating platform with an exhibit, enhanced by light panels.
Zoning and light as its main tool: from concept to implementation
The VIKCARS Museum turned out to be something more than an exhibition space for retro cars - it is an environment with a clear internal logic, where each zone has its own rhythm, atmosphere and scenario of visitor interaction with the exhibits. This spatial structure is the result of the careful work of the architects KOSHULYNSKYY & MAYER, who, even at the planning stage, clearly thought out the character of each zone, which formed the basis for all subsequent decisions.
To implement the architects' idea, each lighting solution had to comply with the zoning principles. This was the reason for abandoning a universal approach to lighting - different areas were selected with their own type of equipment, lighting intensity and technical logic. The scale of the lighting design is impressive: more than half a thousand Vision Lighting fixtures of four types, which were combined according to functional requirements. The variety of zones gave Vision Lighting lighting designers room for creative search - and the opportunity to visually separate each of them through lighting.
In the exhibition area, the light works on the exhibits, emphasizing the geometry of the car bodies, the shine and texture of the materials. In this part of the museum, LINK linear luminaires are mounted in Y-shaped configurations, creating uniform shadow-free lighting. The main highlight of the exhibition — the rotating platform — received a separate lighting solution. Twelve SkyPanel panels form high-intensity light around the exhibit, which distinguishes the object from the general space and gives it a scenic look
LINK linear luminaires in the exhibition area
The presentation area received the most flexible lighting in the museum space. RGB spotlights SHOOTER-L make it a space with controlled mood: the intensity and color of the light can be changed according to the event using the digital DALI protocol. The honeycombs on these spotlights soften the light flow so as not to blind visitors, thus allowing them to stay on the presentation floor for a longer period of time.
The VIKCARS museum project used 509 luminaires of four different types: 12 SkyPanel light panels, 264 LINK linear luminaires, 213 SHOOTER-L spotlights in RGB versions, with anti-glare honeycomb grille, as well as 20 SHOOTER-S spotlights with analog dimmers
Presentation area illuminated by SHOOTER-L RGB spotlights
For the photo zone, the priority was light that contributes to a high-quality frame: uniform, without shadows, with the possibility of integrating media screens. In the store and cafe, the approach is different: here the lighting creates a comfortable environment for relaxation and shopping. In addition, decorative lamps add to the coziness of the cafe, and this helps to create a feeling of a separate, more intimate space inside the museum.
Yevhen Kavaler recalls: “The feeling that everything was coming together correctly appeared when the space began to be perceived holistically, and the light began to work as its organic part.” It was this diversity of approaches while maintaining a common logic that became the basis for the project's international recognition.
Souvenir shop in the VIKCARS museum. Photo: Andriy Shurpenkov
French gold for a Ukrainian project
The doors of the VIKCARS museum reopened to the general public in early October 2025 - already at a new location. Thanks to a clear understanding of the task and the coordinated work of architects and lighting designers, it was possible to create a space that was not only convincing for visitors, but also earned international recognition. In early 2026, the KOSHULYNSKYY & MAYER project won the prestigious French Design Awards in the category "Interior Design: Galleries/Museums". The space was recognized as appropriate and aesthetic, while it does not compete with the exhibits - on the contrary, it pays respect to retro cars, creating an unobtrusive background for them.
The award jury separately noted the lighting design: the various lamps, each of which fulfills its own role, are more than just technical equipment here.
According to Karina Mayer, designer and co-founder of the KOSHULYNSKYY & MAYER office, they worked with light not as an effect, but as part of the architecture: "First, a clear spatial logic was built, and lighting solutions were already integrated into it. The task was simple: not to create a show, but to give the exhibits a precise and clean space for perception."
This sense of dialogue between architects and lighting designers is perhaps the key to the integrity of the project. For Yevhen Kavaler, this was the main conclusion: “From this project, we once again learned the importance of the close interaction between architecture, the function of space and light.”
“Light becomes the main curatorial tool. Linear ceiling structures define movement routes and create a rhythmic sequence of visual pauses,” — French Design Awards
Light emphasizes the geometry of the body and the texture of the materials of the exhibits of the VIKCARS museum. Photo: Andriy Shurpenkov
The French Design Awards 2026 is not just a successful technique, but a system: an architecturally designed space by KOSHULYNSKYY & MAYER and an integrated lighting scenario by Vision Lighting. Here, light does not simply serve its function, but enhances it - from linear luminaires that form routes and emphasize the exhibition, to spotlights that set the mood of the space. The VIKCARS case proves that in the hands of professionals, lighting design can become a structural element that transforms an exhibition space into a complete architectural object.
