The Light Center’s comprehensive lighting upgrade at Desk Chair Loveland completely transformed the co-working space, infusing it with modern elegance and ensuring a well-lit environment conducive to productivity and collaboration.
The Light Center served as the lighting partner for the now-open Buxton Hotel in Fort Collins, delivering a full custom lighting package, including the one-of-a-kind Caldwell Bar pendants.
- Project Full Lighting Package for a Boutique Hotel
- Category Commercial
- Clients The Buxton Hotel - Fort Collins
The Buxton Hotel – Fort Collins’ Newest Landmark Is Open
Where Design Vision Meets Real-World Expertise
The Buxton Hotel has officially opened its doors as one of Fort Collins’ most anticipated new hospitality venues, and The Light Center is proud to have been the lighting partner behind it. A full reimagining of the former Best Western University Inn at 914 S. College Ave., the Buxton was developed by Tribe Development Co. with interior design by VFLA and architecture by RVi. It’s now welcoming guests as a 69-room boutique hotel in the BW Signature Collection.
From the warm, jewel-toned lobby to the custom-lit Caldwell Bar, every fixture was selected, sourced, and specified by our team. What makes this project exceptional isn’t just the finished space, though it truly is stunning. It’s the process behind it: upholding a bold design vision while making smart, strategic decisions at every turn to keep the project on track and on budget.
Project at a Glance
The Buxton Hotel, Fort Collins, CO
- Type: Boutique hospitality hotel
- Scope: Full lighting package — lobby, guest corridors, bar, and public spaces
- Interior Designer: VFLA (Vaught Frye Larson Architects)
- Architect: RVi
- Developer: Tribe Development Co.
- Opened: Spring 2026
- Location: 914 S. College Ave., Fort Collins, CO
Our Role: Design Partner, Not Just Vendor
The Buxton design team had a clear aesthetic vision: warm, rich, and layered, with terracotta, burgundy, sculptural brass, and lush floral detail. The interior design firm had already selected many of the materials and fixtures. Our job wasn’t to start over — it was to honor that vision while making it buildable.
That meant finding alternatives for fixtures that had been initially sourced at significant cost from international suppliers, leveraging The Light Center’s exclusive vendor relationships to source pieces that were not only more economical but in many cases more specific to the space. It also meant managing code compliance throughout. Every piece was verified UL-listed and met commercial installation requirements.
The result: meaningful savings without the client ever feeling like they got less. The design was fully preserved, and now that the doors are open, guests get to experience it firsthand. Our sourcing connections, built over decades in the industry, meant we could offer options the Buxton team simply couldn’t have found on their own.
The Caldwell Bar: Designed and Built for This Space Alone
The bar inside The Buxton, called the Caldwell, was the most custom element of the project — and one we’re especially proud to see come to life.
The pendant lights above the bar don’t exist in any catalog. They were designed and built exclusively for this project through The Light Center’s sourcing network, a process that began with a sketch and ended with a one-of-a-kind fixture now hanging above the bar for every guest to see. We went through nearly 60 fabric samples before landing on exactly the right shade from Schumacher to match the hotel’s palette of dusty rose and warm terracotta.
From concept to cord color, every detail was deliberate. The finished pendants reflect what The Light Center does best: translate a design vision into something tangible, exclusive, and built to last — and now, something you can walk in and see for yourself.
Love the Caldwell pendants? See the fabric pendant shades now in our Fort Collins showroom.
What This Means for Your Project
The Buxton is a commercial project, but the same approach applies to any large-scale residential renovation, new build, or hospitality project.
The Light Center’s value isn’t just product selection. It’s our ability to read a design, understand what’s essential, and bring sourcing options to the table that most clients and contractors never have access to. We manage the full scope, from floor plan review and code compliance to delivery coordination and installation, and we protect our clients’ budgets without ever compromising their vision.
If you’re a builder, architect, interior designer, or developer working on a project in Northern Colorado and beyond, this is the kind of partnership we offer.
Let’s Talk About Your Project
The Buxton Hotel is open now, and we’d love for you to see it in person. Stop by, pull up a seat at the Caldwell Bar, and take in a space we’re incredibly proud to have helped bring to life.
Book a commercial lighting consultation with our team, or visit our Fort Collins showroom to see the kinds of fixtures, custom options, and exclusive vendor partnerships we bring to every project.
Photography courtesy of Tribe Development.
Book a Commercial Consultation
View Our Commercial Portfolio
Related Projects
