diff --git a/src/tangerine.cpp b/src/tangerine.cpp
index 6fa33b8..5ed870f 100644
--- a/src/tangerine.cpp
+++ b/src/tangerine.cpp
@@ -314,19 +314,31 @@ initLights(MemoryArena* arena, GLContext* gl_ctx, u32 max_lights)
 	// FIXME: revisit for 'Scene' abstraction
 
 	// TODO: we need a way to do this automatically somehow
-	u32 buf_size = 8 * sizeof(u32) // NOTE: 'header'
+	LightsBuffer* lb = ARENA_ALLOC(arena, LightsBuffer, 1);
+	lb->buf_size = 8 * sizeof(u32) // NOTE: 'header'
 				+ 6 * max_lights * sizeof(glm::vec4); // NOTE: vector arrays
+	LOGF(Debug, "buf_size: %d\n", lb->buf_size);
+	lb->buffer = ARENA_ALLOC(arena, u8, lb->buf_size);
 
-	LOGF(Debug, "buf_size: %d\n", buf_size);
+	lb->max_p_lights = (u32*) lb->buffer;
+	lb->active_p_lights =
+		(u32*) arenaGetAddressOffset(lb->max_p_lights, sizeof(u32));
+	lb->max_d_lights =
+		(u32*) arenaGetAddressOffset(lb->active_p_lights, sizeof(u32));
+	lb->active_d_lights =
+		(u32*) arenaGetAddressOffset(lb->max_d_lights, sizeof(u32));
 
-	LightsBuffer* lb = (LightsBuffer*) ARENA_ALLOC(arena, u8, buf_size);
-	lb->buf_size = buf_size;
-	lb->max_p_lights = max_lights;
-	lb->max_d_lights = max_lights;
+	*lb->max_p_lights = max_lights;
+	*lb->max_d_lights = max_lights;
+
+	// NOTE: add padding, we're not actually using  this since 4 * u32 is on a
+	// 	16 byte boundary, but will be helpful if we need to add more 'headers'
+	// 	in the future
+	void* arr_start = arenaGetAddressOffset(lb->buffer, 8 * sizeof(u32));
 
 	// NOTE: set offsets for array pointers
-	lb->pl_positions = (glm::vec4*) arenaGetAddressOffset(lb, sizeof(*lb));
 	u32 arr_size = max_lights * sizeof(glm::vec4);
+	lb->pl_positions = (glm::vec4*) arr_start;
 	lb->pl_colors =
 		(glm::vec4*) arenaGetAddressOffset(lb->pl_positions, arr_size);
 	lb->pl_intensities =
@@ -350,8 +362,8 @@ initLights(MemoryArena* arena, GLContext* gl_ctx, u32 max_lights)
 	glGenBuffers(1, &lights_ubo->id);
 	glBindBuffer(lights_ubo->target, lights_ubo->id);
 	glBufferData(lights_ubo->target,
-				buf_size,
-				lb,
+				lb->buf_size,
+				lb->buffer,
 				GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW);
 	glBindBufferBase(lights_ubo->target,
 					lights_ubo->binding_idx,
diff --git a/src/tangerine.h b/src/tangerine.h
index e7e1ee8..4a202fd 100644
--- a/src/tangerine.h
+++ b/src/tangerine.h
@@ -107,16 +107,17 @@ struct GLClearColor
 };
 
 // NOTE: structure to match the layout of the 'lights' uniform in a shader
+// 	all the pointers are pointers into the address space of 'buffer'. the vec4
+// 	pointers are required to start on 16 byte boundaries as per layout std140,
+// 	so there may be some padding added between the 'header', and the start of
+// 	the arrays
 struct LightsBuffer
 {
 	u32 buf_size;
-	u32 max_p_lights;
-	u32 active_p_lights;
-	u32 max_d_lights;
-	u32 active_d_lights;
-
-	// NOTE: padding for std140, vec4 need to be aligned at 16 bytes
-	u8 padding[12];
+	u32* max_p_lights;
+	u32* active_p_lights;
+	u32* max_d_lights;
+	u32* active_d_lights;
 
 	glm::vec4* pl_positions;
 	glm::vec4* pl_colors;
@@ -125,6 +126,8 @@ struct LightsBuffer
 	glm::vec4* dl_directions;
 	glm::vec4* dl_colors;
 	glm::uvec4* dl_intensities;
+
+	void* buffer;
 };
 
 struct RenderState
@@ -146,11 +149,6 @@ struct RenderState
 	// 	could match up with gltf scene graph where everyting is part of a node
 	// TODO: will also need other types of lights: directional, spotlight
 	LightsBuffer* lights_buf;
-#if 0
-	u32 num_lights;
-	u32 max_lights;
-	PointLight* lights;
-#endif
 };