Genius, insanity and innovation p.18 Mission accomplished at Fort Langley p.36 A Volkswagen classic p.49 Twilight years for the LED streetlight p.52 The magazine of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America Religious Revival Montreal s Red Roof Church August 2012 www.ies.org
Trinity A Triumph 134-year-old church building in downtown Montreal serves three distinct roles with a lighting plan that covers all angles By Vilma Barr 32 August 2012 LD+A www.ies.org
Photos: Martine Doyon As a church, a mission and a performance hall, the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Montreal serves three different audiences with lighting especially suited to its urban environs. Local designer Lightemotion deployed LED and metal halide fixtures to bring out the church s distinctive period architecture. The relighting program was completed earlier this year. During religious services and for mission work, the stone façade and roof are lit in soft white light, says Francois Roupinian, founder of Lightemotion. For a concert, the illuminated main front door glows red, and colored interior lights define the stained glass windows. Known in the city as the Red Roof Church, St. John s is an affiliated parish in the Anglican Diocese of Montreal. Located in the central business district now designated as the Quartier des Spectacles (LD+A, July 2007), St. John s has become a partner with surrounding theaters and commercial properties, sponsoring programs and events to enliven the area. New housing in the downtown district is also increasing the number of visitors to the church for services and events. The design of the church which was built in 1878 was influenced by the Gothic Revival Victorian church architecture prevalent in London s East End. The roof of St. John s, which follows the building s linear footprint was originally slate but was replaced in the mid- 1950s with red-painted metal. Walls are made of local greystone. A small bell tower rises over the sanctuary, which is defined by 13 slender high lancet windows of colored glass. There s no other church in Montreal like this, says Roupinian. Similar to other churches of the late 19th century, a parish house and a school round out the St. John site. Because of its designation as an historic building, Lightemotion could not mount fixtures directly on the church building. Instead, the design team made use of adjacent buildings, the ground itself and a nearby lamppost to light the exterior, including the roof, walls and doors. Inside, the luminaires for the windows are suspended from an existing internal lighting truss. The lighting concept had to walk a fine line between subtlety and accentuation, explains Roupinian. Lighting had to reflect and respect the church s three different roles. At the same time, we wanted to bring attention to the building. It s surrounded by big buildings that didn t exist 134 years ago. Our task was to create drama but to respect the building s history and its current role in the city as both a cultural and religious center. The design team had other difficult terrain to navigate. We were on a very tight budget, Roupinian explains. And there were www.ies.org LD+A August 2012 33
Vandal-resistant junction box Figure 1. numerous architectural constraints and other issues, such as vandal-resistant fittings, and low maintenance for the luminaires and lamps. While everything had to be very sturdy and resist vandalism, it also had to be out of sight to passersby. THE ENLIGHTENMENT Lightemotion began the project with what was essentially a blank slate. Prior to the relighting, St. John s had no nighttime presence to speak of. There were two sodium floodlights in barbed wire cages, recalls Roupinian. It was very sad. You d never suspect there was a church there; it was like a dark hole. Initial funding for the new lighting came from the city of Montreal, as part of their promotional campaign for Quartier des Spectacles to encourage residents and visitors to take advantage of theaters and musical performance opportunities being staged at area venues. Roupinian devised a fourphase program three for the exterior and one for the interior to bring new life to the historic structure: Lower building. For the stone façade, 16 LED 30 deg fixtures (Lumenpulse) were semi-recessed to protrude above the typical snow line that exists during the winter. The beams from the 40-W 3,000K fixtures are angled onto the lower half of the church. Roupinian encased the fixtures within a vandal-resistant 4-in. square junction box, affixed to a new concrete slab placed on top of aggregate (Figure 1). Tamper-resistant screws attached to the casing of the junction box are anchored to the concrete slab. A galvanized matte black-painted weatherproof steel enclosure measures 28 in. in length and width and 14 in. high. The top and front panels are of rigid mesh. Upper building. To emphasize the building s signature upper half without touching the building itself, Roupinian had to devise a technique that would not involve mounting luminaires evenly across the red roof line where it meets the stone. Our solution was to attach six [metal halide] fixtures to the adjacent parish building at the roof line to the left of the front entrance. Five fix- 34 August 2012 LD+A www.ies.org
Illustration: Lightemotion Four-part program: 1. The roof and spire are lighted by six metal halide fixtures located on the adjacent parish house. 2. For the bottom half of the structure, ground-mounted LEDs bring out the details of the stone base. 3. Interior illumination defines the classic lancet windows. 4. Mounted on a nearby lamppost, red LED fixtures are beamed at the red front door. tures would graze across the front, plus one focused on the spire. Because there were no as-built documents, Lightemotion built a maquette to mock up the side lighting angles. Selected for final installation were projectors (iguzzini Maxiwoody Superspot, fitted with Philips MasterColor CDM-TM 150-W lamps). We spent two nights adjusting the attachment clamps, changing angles until we positioned the fixtures to graze and overlap along the roof s surface, like five fingers of light, says Roupinian. Front doors. Visitors ascending the stepped curved pathway are led to the double red entry front doors, now accented with six LED fixtures (Teksho), each with 36 red 2-W, 25-deg lamps. They are attached to a streetlight at the curb line. Stained glass windows. Once inside, visitors can view the 13 arched stained glass windows in a new light. Here, utilizing an existing suspended power source, 23 display profile 15-35 deg fixtures (Selecon) were installed, containing Mastercolor Philips CDM mini 35-W 3,000K lamps. We had previously designed the lighting for two of the church s neighbors, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Place des Arts, says Roupinian. Now with St. John s finished, we feel we ve played a part in helping to revitalize this section of the city. Vilma Barr is a regular contributor to LD+A. metrics that matter The Church of St. John the Evangelist, Montreal Lamp Types: 4 Fixture Types: 4 the DESIGNER Francois Roupinian, IES Member (2012), is principal lighting designer with Lightemotion, Montreal, which he founded in 2002. www.ies.org LD+A August 2012 35