St Pauls the Hackett Church Thornbury

Enlightened were approached by St Pauls the Hackett Church in Thornbury to replace and rejuvenate their existing lighting system.  

Though diminutive in size St Pauls is a pretty stone built mission church constructed in 1905 within the parish of Thornbury. Seating only one hundred parishioners, the church is held in great affection by its congregation who appreciate its informal and intimate atmosphere.

The existing lighting left the church a little gloomy. Following on-site consultation, we were enthusiastic in our proposal of a new LED lighting system for this delightful little church that would best compliment and highlight the church’s atmosphere and charm.

Illuma Gridspot 35 watt LED lamps with a colour temperature of 3000 Kelvin were sympathetically installed along the length of the nave, either side of the ceilings beamed apex to maximise the space's sense of height and draw the eye toward the rounded apse. The altar and windows on each side of the apse were feature lit using LED ribbon to provide an attractive soft wash to these focal points.

The use of recessed LED ribbon lights was continued above each of the gothic arches of the naves windows to create a simple lighting wash that beautifully compliments the clean modernist design of the stained glass windows. 

Zamo dimmers were installed to provide full dimmable control over the church’s separate areas allowing beautiful lighting states to transform the church’s atmosphere. For example, the new lighting now allows the church to darken the nave and congregation whilst raising the illumination over the apse to create a pool of light at the altar. 

Commenting on the installation a spokesman for St Paul’s the Hackett stated, ‘We are very pleased with the new lighting from the start being guided by Simon Marcus developing our brief to provide a very flexible switching arrangement so that each part of the church can be lit separately e.g. Altar alone, or altar and window lights (mood lighting) to fully lit for normal services or any combination needed for dramatic effect’.