dpa lighting consultants were commissioned by Hertford College to design a new architectural lighting scheme for their chapel. The old lighting had been installed for many years and consisted of one or two spotlights and some linear fluorescent luminaires which were not providing flattering illumination to this architecturally significant place of worship.

The lighting of a historic building requires particular thought and care as whilst luminaires are necessary to provide the required lighting effects, they are seldom required to be focal points themselves and the cabling certainly needs to be concealed as far as is practicable. dpa spent considerable time designing the lighting and working on details which provided the desired lighting effects but which concealed both fittings and cabling from critical viewing locations. Extensive lighting trials were also undertaken in order to illustrate and investigate lighting approaches for the various elements of the scheme. A lighting control system was specified which allowed the college to select suitable predetermined lighting scenes for the various celebrations and types of worship which were undertaken in the chapel.

dpa are very pleased with this particular project and it is an illustration of how a building can be transformed by light even with a relatively modest budget.