As Leviton celebrates its 120th anniversary, the company is sharpening its focus on healthcare and specialty lighting with a new agency move in the Southeast. The announcement that Visioneering and Certolux have signed Ardd + Winter marks a strategic step to deepen its presence in a market where relationships, technical skill, and speed matter more than ever.
Your humble editor spoke with Pierre Legare, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Pierre explained how the partnership came together and why the timing feels right. He sees the alignment as a shared commitment to healthcare, a segment where Leviton expects steady long-term growth.
“Ardd + Winter has deep relationships in the healthcare market, where we are really focused,” Pierre said. “Their customer penetration enhances our brand positioning, and the ability to connect specialty lighting with general lighting for a continuous design experience is something differentiated.”
The Leviton Ardd + Winter partnership arrives as healthcare facilities shift away from institutional design and toward more patient-centered spaces. Lighting now plays a bigger role in that change. Designers and facility leaders want fixtures that meet strict standards while still creating a welcoming feel.
A Manufacturing Base Built for Healthcare
Leviton draws its strength in this segment from its Toronto-based brands, Visioneering and Certolux. Visioneering focuses on architectural spaces. Certolux specializes in demanding environments such as cleanrooms, behavioral health facilities, and patient care areas.
Pierre noted that nearly 75 years of fixture manufacturing experience support these brands. That history helps Leviton move fast when healthcare clients need custom solutions.
“Our ability to go from napkin sketch to design to prototype to production is really our hallmark,” Pierre said. “That agility is our secret sauce, especially in high-stakes environments like healthcare.”
Why the Southeast Needed a Specialist
The Leviton Ardd + Winter partnership also reflects a larger industry shift. Lighting agents now specialize by vertical market more than ever before. Manufacturers seek partners with deep knowledge rather than broad but shallow coverage.
In the Southeast, Ardd + Winter’s decades of healthcare experience made the decision clear. Pierre said healthcare may be a smaller slice of the market, but it brings higher technical demands and stronger barriers to entry.
“It’s a much smaller slice of the lighting pie, but far more difficult to manufacture,” Pierre explained. “There are fewer players, and customization is critical. Our portfolio allows us to tie specialty and general lighting together so a patient moving through a hospital doesn’t notice transitions, even though fixtures are performing very different functions.”
Designers Shape Today’s Healthcare Spaces
The Leviton Ardd + Winter partnership also highlights the growing influence of lighting designers in healthcare projects. Designers now push for solutions that balance compliance with comfort. Many draw inspiration from hospitality settings to soften clinical environments.
“Lighting designers are playing a larger and larger role,” Pierre said. “They want less institutional and more experience-driven environments. That shift is shaping how fixtures are designed and selected.”
Growth Builds Confidence
Leviton’s recent U.S. growth has reinforced confidence in its direction. Pierre pointed to strong performance over the past several years as agents and specifiers gain firsthand exposure to the company’s capabilities.
“When our partners visit the factory and see what we can do, the business tends to grow naturally,” Pierre said. “We do what we say, and that builds trust.”
While Leviton remains focused on North America, its expanding specialty portfolio supports continued healthcare investment across the U.S. The addition of Ardd + Winter strengthens representation in key Southeastern markets, including Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.