Historic Churches 2022

18 BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 29TH ANNUAL EDITION Ely Cathedral on a starry night with a detail below: the stars can still be seen behind the new lighting scheme. are all able to produce coloured light as well as a warm light that matches the conventional white uplighting and floodlighting. So with this arrangement it is easier to light each tower in one colour rather than each face, so the static looks are easy to achieve. Not all lighting schemes need the addition of coloured effects, with some buildings simply not suited to them. There are arguments against ‘exploiting’ older buildings with colour, and some views are that they should only be lit as though by moonlight. Others say that floodlighting cannot be justified in the current age of high fuel and sustainability costs. We should also be aware that some schemes of this nature are vulnerable to exploitation by the designers, manufacturers and suppliers of the systems used, simply as very public advertisements for their trade. As an example of this, some decades ago but over a period of many years, the external lighting of St Paul’s Cathedral and London’s Tower Bridge featured widely on the front covers of manufacturers’ catalogues and in multiple advertisements in international press – and even in marketing letters from the electricity suppliers. The opportunity to design lighting schemes for our landmark buildings is a very great honour, but it should not be taken lightly. The design should treat the building with respect, even reverence. While the design should fulfil the needs and expectations of the of the client body (commercial or otherwise), it should be balanced and proportionate in the knowledge that it is only a transient dressing of the architecture that will surely outlast this generation of technology and the next. BRUCE KIRK is the founder of Light Perceptions, www.lightperceptions.co.uk, a specialist lighting consultancy for historic buildings which has been involved in the internal or external lighting of more than 20 cathedrals and over 300 churches as well as many other buildings, from historic royal palaces to exclusive private residences. He has been an advisor to various DACs, HCCs and the CFCE, and he is also a member of the Church Buildings Council’s Net Zero Carbon Committee. Close-up of the Octagon at Ely with its new lighting scheme (Both photos: James Billings)