London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2026) - Luci, an award-winning experience design practice specializing in museums and cultural experiences, announces today the opening of its first international studio in London, marking a significant milestone for the practice.

Founded in Chicago in 2011, Luci has grown strategically in cities recognized as centers of culture and design innovation, expanding to Seattle and New York over the past decade. London marks the practice's next step as its first studio outside the U.S. The new studio brings Luci closer to clients, collaborators, and cultural communities throughout Europe while creating a base for the practice's continued international growth.

"London is an important next chapter for Luci, but this is about much more than opening another office," said AJ Goehle, co-founder and CEO of Luci. "Establishing a locally led team in London allows us to become part of an extraordinary creative and cultural community while bringing new perspectives to Luci as a whole. We want our international growth to strengthen our work, not simply expand our footprint."

The Luci London studio will be led by Josh Kirk and Thomas Tzortzi as co-principals and creative directors, with complementary expertise in spatial, narrative and experience design. Kirk has spent more than a decade creating narrative-driven exhibitions and immersive experiences for the museum, heritage and brand sectors. Tzortzi brings more than a decade as a lead designer, combining bold spatial thinking with deep research at the masterplan scale. Together, they have collaborated on museums, cultural destinations and visitor experiences across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. James Alexander joins as chairman after decades as chief executive of Event Communications, a global leader that helped shape the museum and visitor attraction industry.

The London team will build upon Luci's outcome-driven approach to experience design. Rather than starting with a fixed idea of what the space should be, Luci starts by asking what an institution wants visitors to understand, feel, question, or carry forward from an experience.

"The next generation of international museums and visitor experiences will succeed by responding to their context and their visitors in a more intimate, personal way," said Kirk. "That means bringing audiences and our clients into the process before the ideas are fixed. We aim to create experiences that connect at an emotional level and empower a visitor's transformation from passive recipients to active participants and co-creators of meaning."

Luci's multidisciplinary teams work closely with clients, communities and subject-matter experts to bring specialized knowledge into the creative process. Depending on the project, that can mean working with historians, scientists, educators, cultural advisers, medical professionals, psychologists and other specialists to better understand how different audiences learn, engage and experience a space.

That approach reflects Luci's belief that successful experience design should be measured not simply by what is built, but by what visitors take with them.

"Our role is not to arrive with the answer already formed," said Tzortzi. "The answer begins with the place and the people who know it. Our job is to listen closely, establish a clear creative framework, and turn those perspectives into an experience that could belong nowhere else."

Kirk and Tzortzi bring an established and extensive international portfolio to Luci, including the Oman Across Ages Museum, RAF Museum, Museum MACAN, The Raid for the National Museum of Denmark, Shenzhen Natural History Museum and Home of Carlsberg in Copenhagen.

"Great creative work requires us to continually challenge our own assumptions," said Matthew McNerney, chief creative officer of Luci. "London gives us another vantage point. Josh, Thomas and their team bring experiences that will influence how we think across the entire practice, just as Luci's existing teams bring their own expertise to the work. That exchange is exactly what we want."

Luci has delivered more than 100 projects spanning history, science, children's museums, military history, and cultural identity. Clients include Holocaust Museum Boston, the National WWI Museum and Memorial, California Science Center, National Music Museum, Moonshot Museum, United States Golf Association, Harley-Davidson and Amazon. To learn more about Luci, its new London office and international projects, visit Luci.

About Luci

Founded in Chicago in 2011, Luci is an award-winning, woman-owned experience design practice creating museums and brand experiences that shape how people see themselves, their world, and their place in it. Guided by the belief that new times call for new perspectives, Luci combines curiosity, emotional intelligence, rigorous research, and multidisciplinary collaboration to transform complex stories into meaningful experiences designed around visitor outcomes. With studios in Chicago, Seattle, New York, and London, Luci has delivered more than 100 projects across history, science, culture, education, and entertainment. In addition to being named to the Inc. 5000 list twice, Crain's Chicago Business named Luci one of the city's Biggest Woman-Owned Businesses. For more information, visit lucicreative.com.

New Perspectives for New Times

Luci's teams come together in London as the experience design practice establishes its first international studio. The locally led London team brings deep museum, cultural, and international experience to Luci's growing multidisciplinary practice. Left to Right - Thomas Tzortzi, Josh Kirk, Alice Penner, Becca Warren, James Alexander, Matthew McNerney, AJ Goehle

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Luci team members working together at the new London office. Left to Right: Matthew McNerney, Alice Penner, AJ Goehle, Becca Warren, Josh Kirk, and Thomas Tzortzi

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Luci's London Address: 

Luci London 
K01/02 Kala Studios 
The Biscuit Factory100 Drummond Road
SE16 4DG

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/313549

Source: Luci