By: Himanshi Jain
Last updated : September 21, 2026 5:00 am
Designed by FRDC, the 9,000 sq ft Aurora Lights Experience Centre in Rajkot looks at lighting differently - not as a fixture to be selected, but as an element that can change the way a space is seen and experienced.
When you enter any typical lighting showroom, the first thing you are likely to notice are the products themselves -- rows of lights, different forms, finishes, sizes, and specifications. However, Aurora Lighting Centre in Rajkot takes a completely different route. Here, the starting point is not the lighting fixture, but the space, a space to experience and explore.
Spread across approximately 9,000 sq ft, the centre has been designed by FRDC as a place where customers can first understand what light can do to a space and then decide what lighting they need. The idea came from a very simple question: What can lighting do to my space?
As Sanjay Agarwal, Co-Founder and MD, FRDC, puts it, “You come with the question of what lighting can do to your space, see the magic of lighting, and then you buy the lighting.”
A centre designed as a journey
The experience centre unfolds through a series of zones that recreate familiar residential and architectural settings. Living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, wardrobes and washrooms are accompanied by outdoor applications such as façades, compound walls and under-surface lighting.
The purpose is to let customers see the effect first, rather than asking them to imagine how a particular light might look at home. This was also an important consideration in the planning of the visitor journey.
“Technical lights require understanding of both specifications and aspects such as CRI and colour temperature, as well as various ways of using lighting for creating specific ambience,” explains Ruchi Mehta, Design Director, FRDC.
Sharing the client perspective, *Hitesh, Founder of Aurora Lights, says, “Since the product is technical, the customer should be in a position to evaluate the lighting outcome and then select the appropriate fixtures.”
The sequence was therefore developed around the way people make lighting decisions. Visitors can experience different colour temperatures, RGB lighting, concealed lighting, skirting lights, under-step illumination, textured wall lighting and other applications before getting into the technical details.
Ruchi says the intention was to make the centre useful even for customers who may not arrive with a designer or consultant. “We wanted to demonstrate the potential of lighting and inspire designers and end users alike.”
Seeing the light before selecting the fixture
One of the key differences between Aurora Experience Centre and a conventional lighting showroom is what the visitor is encouraged to look at. “Unlike conventional lighting showrooms, here the focus is on showcasing lighting first and then the fixture,” says Ruchi.
Sanjay sees this distinction as particularly important when it comes to technical lighting. “When we are talking about technical lights, nobody wants to see the light fixture. What one needs to experience is light, the quality of light, and how light transforms a space.”
When we take technical lighting into consideration, the physical appearance of a fixture often tells only part of the story. What matters just as much is how the light falls on a wall, highlights a texture, creates depth, changes the mood of a room or supports a particular activity.
The lower density of displays gives individual fixtures more breathing space, while the surrounding environments allow visitors to see them in context. A curved wall is one of the more distinctive elements of the centre. According to Ruchi, it has encouraged designers to look at lighting more creatively and consider it as an experiential part of a project rather than simply a functional requirement.
There is also a movable digital interface that helps consultants navigate the experience and demonstrate different lighting possibilities without relying on a conventional array of switches.
From exploration to conversation
After moving through the experiential zones, visitors reach a more intimate consultation area designed to feel closer to a living environment. This is where the journey shifts from experiencing possibilities to discussing an actual project. Well, the logic is quite deliberate. A customer first understands what they like, how they want their space to feel, and what different lighting techniques can achieve. The conversation can then move towards the appropriate fixtures, specifications and systems.
More than a place to buy lights
Aurora Lighting Experience Centre has been designed in a way that allows it to host architects, designers and industry gatherings, including launches, presentations and design discussions. There is also a dedicated decorative lighting section, where pendants, wall lights and tabletop fixtures are presented within lived-in settings rather than as isolated products. This helps connect decorative lighting with the overall ambience of a room.
For Rajkot, the centre is also part of a larger ambition. “After being in this industry for 42 years, I felt that customers still went to Ahmedabad and other cities for good lighting fixtures. So I wanted to create one place where they can find all good quality products in Rajkot itself,” says Hitesh.
The idea is not simply to bring more products into the city, but to give customers a place where they can understand those products before making a decision. And the format may not remain limited to Rajkot. Hitesh confirms that there are plans for expansion.
For now, the Aurora Lights Experience Centre brings together product, design and technology around a fairly simple proposition that before choosing a light, understand what you want the light to do.
Photography – PHX India