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Sheffield Church Stepping Towards A Brighter Future
Trinity United Reformed Church in Sheffield is now being seen in a different light after having new floodlighting installed. It is probably somewhat unique as it uses L.E.D. fixtures for washing the full height of the building while illuminating the access steps at the same time.
The sanctuary, built in 1971, joins the original building dating from 1901. The architect designed it to appear like the end of the cliff at the back of the site, reflecting the name, Endcliffe - the area where the buildings are located.
Church members had been concerned for some time about lack of light on the steps, making it difficult to see when walking up or down them at night, so lighting designer Jonathan Dawson-Butterworth suggested changing the floodlighting to help solve this problem and also to improve the external lighting of the building. The old floodlighting provided by two standard 500 watt floodlights pointing towards the cross. Bulbs failed once a year on average, requiring ladder access to change them.
The aim of the new lighting system was to be both functional and aesthetic whilst using minimum energy and having low impact on wildlife and the wider environment. L.E.D. lighting appeared to be the best way to achieve this, and Jonathan started approaching manufacturers several years ago and found they were reluctant to produce fixtures necessary for the project, some even saying it wasn't possible. Eventually a manufacturer, Dialight Lumidrives, was found and, following initial experiments, approvals including planning permission were obtained over a period of many months. A local company, Rotherham-based Lilleker Engineering, made bespoke mounting brackets for the fixtures from stainless steel, complementing the stainless steel cross on the front of the church. Two architectural highlights on the roof was lit including the so-called pergola.
The front face of the building reaches around 30 feet high, and instead of taking the easy option of uplighting it and creating significant light pollution, the fixtures are top-mounted, reducing light spill to a minimum and producing minimum shadowing of people using the steps. The fixture positions mean there is also no dazzling effect. The fixtures used in the system are five 1.2m 36X1Watt linear, two 425mm 12X1Watt linear, two 36X1Watt circular fixtures (all RGB and oval optic), two 630mm 7.2W linear white fixtures and one 3X1Watt white spot. Unfortunately, the only possible mounting position for the spot necessitates a slight uplight, the slight spill from which falls on a tree on the cliff behind the building.
Careful planning and design means the system is very efficient, the fixtures using less than 300W with everything at full brightness. It should be over 25 years before any replacements become necessary and there is safe, easy access from the walled flat roof when required. Much consideration has been taken for wildlife, so the lights are in close proximity to the building and switch-on, triggered via a photocell, for the first part of the night when people normally use the buildings then, after 1am, switch-off using a DMX controlled relay. The colour mixing means the building can now be colour themed on special occasions or for seasons in the Christian calendar.
Church members and building users have given the new floodlighting an enthusiastic reception. To Jonathan's slight surprise, church members have chosen a yellowish colour for the normal colour when no theming is taking place: he was expecting a bluer colour, nearer daylight.
There are potential future plans for other additions, both inside and out, and the control system will easily accommodate these. Control is via a basic AR32 DMX controller with an internal calendar and time trigger for memories. Programming was undertaken from Jonathans' own grandMA Light lighting desk, a bit of overkill but making programming very easy. Over 20 basic memories were recorded to the DMX controller which can be manually triggered but normally runs automatically on its timers.
The church members are interested in making use of more environmentally friendly power sources, for example wind power or fuel cell, and the new lighting would integrate easily with any of these sources. Obviously, funds are very limited, so it will be a while before a new power source will be installed.
Jonathan observes: "It has been a huge learning curve finding out about the ins and outs of planning and similar permissions, but it's nice to have created an installation that should still be working in around 30 years' time rather than the usual short duration of live events.
"There are countless examples of poor lighting where various houses, shops, offices and other commercial premises are culprits. Hopefully this new floodlighting scheme may help make people think more about where and how we use light and also lead to people thinking more carefully about locating and focusing their lights.
31st October 2008
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