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
LDA Aug cover II.indd A
7/9/12 11:50 AM
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN
Trinity
Triumph
32
August 2012 | LD+A A 134-year-old church building in
downtown Montreal serves three
distinct roles with a lighting plan
that covers all angles
By Vilma Barr
www.ies.org
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN
A
s 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 mid1950s 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
Photos: Martine Doyon
www.ies.org
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
LD+A | August 2012
33
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN
Vandal-resistant junction box
Figure 1.
numerous architectural constraints and other issues, such as
• Lower building. For the stone façade, 16 LED 30 deg fixtures
vandal-resistant fittings, and low maintenance for the luminaires
(Lumenpulse) were semi-recessed to protrude above the typi-
and lamps. While everything had to be very sturdy and resist van-
cal snow line that exists during the winter. The beams from
dalism, it also had to be out of sight to passersby.”
the 40-W 3,000K fixtures are angled onto the lower half of the
church. Roupinian encased the fixtures within a vandal-resis-
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
Lightemotion began the project with what was essentially a blank
tant 4-in. square junction box, affixed to a new concrete slab
placed on top of aggregate (Figure 1). Tamper-resistant screws
slate. Prior to the relighting, St. John’s had no nighttime presence to
attached to the casing of the junction box are anchored to the
speak of. “There were two sodium floodlights in barbed wire cages,”
concrete slab. A galvanized matte black-painted weatherproof
recalls Roupinian. “It was very sad. You’d never suspect there was
steel enclosure measures 28 in. in length and width and 14 in.
a church there; it was like a dark hole.” Initial funding for the new
high. The top and front panels are of rigid mesh.
lighting came from the city of Montreal, as part of their promotional
• Upper building. To emphasize the building’s signature upper half
campaign for Quartier des Spectacles to encourage residents and
without touching the building itself, Roupinian had to devise a
visitors to take advantage of theaters and musical performance op-
technique that would not involve mounting luminaires evenly
portunities being staged at area venues. Roupinian devised a four-
across the red roof line where it meets the stone. “Our solution
phase program—three for the exterior and one for the interior—to
was to attach six [metal halide] fixtures to the adjacent parish
bring new life to the historic structure:
building at the roof line to the left of the front entrance. Five fix-
34
August 2012 | LD+A www.ies.org
Illustration: Lightemotion
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN
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.”
“We had previously designed the lighting for two of the church’s
Because there were no as-built documents, Lightemotion built a
neighbors, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Place des
maquette to mock up the side lighting angles. Selected for final in-
Arts,” says Roupinian. “Now with St. John’s finished, we feel we’ve
stallation were projectors (iGuzzini Maxiwoody Superspot, fitted
played a part in helping to revitalize this section of the city.” ■
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.
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
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
the DESIGNER
Francois Roupinian, IES Member (2012), is principal lighting designer with Lightemotion, Montreal, which he founded in 2002.
fixtures (Selecon) were installed, containing Mastercolor Philips CDM mini 35-W 3,000K lamps.
www.ies.org
LD+A | August 2012
35