news
- 20.12.2005
- / realizations
Lighting of the monastic church of Trapists in Nový Dvůr
Building-up of the church was preceded by fabrication of monastery that began in May 2000. The monastic friary acts within Roman Catholic church and its history reaches back to the 17th century. At that time it separated itself in La Trappe monastery (wherefrom Trapists) from the Cistercian friary. Trapists aim at a return to the original roots of the friary as they were formulated by the founder of Cistercian friary Bernard from Clairvaux. Their main motive is a modest life dedicated to prayers and work that has to sustain each individual monastery.
A quiet place far from the bustle of civilization was one of the conditions for the building-up of the monastery. In 1999 the friary managed to buy some buildings from a grange that was build for the remonstrate monastery in Teplá near Toužim. It was quite ruined at the time of the purchase and from the original buildings only one residence in the western part of the monastery could be saved. Other buildings that enclosed the square courtyard had to be pulled down or reconstructed root and branch.
The architectonic project of the monastery with the church was drawn up by architect John Pawson from London in cooperation with architect Jan Soukup from Plzeň. Projects of architect Pawson come from philosophy of minimalism, which is very close to the life of the monk community.
Lighting principle
The most significant building of the monastery is a newly build church which encloses the courtyard from the northern side. The interior beauty of the church amazes with its simplicity, monumental lightness, clarity and space purity. The basic thought of the building is based on work with light. Light comes to the church through skylights, or rather through light tunnels or channels. Six horizontal windows - four meant for lighting of the nave and one for the presbytery. A few hanging panels, creating as if sides of the church that prevent light from falling directly in, are components of the horizontal roof. The reflected light comes to the interior space only through narrow slots between the panels and the wall. This lighting principle is an inseparable part of the whole architecture, it makes it excel, it models it and fulfils it with content for which it was created.
Requirements for lighting
Measurements realized in the home monastery church in Sept-Fons in France served as a basis for requirements regarding the intensity of light in the church in Nový Dvůr. Great stress was being laid, from the beginning of the works on the project, on the comparable value of the intensity of light in both churches during divine services.
The measured values of intensity of daylight in the church in Sept-Fons in France in clear sky with the horizontal illuminance 50 000 lx were:
Altar and ambon table 30 lx
Choir pews 10 lx
Pews for guests table 20 lx
The measured values of day and artificial illumination in the same external conditions were:
Altar and ambon table 130 lx
Choir pews 100 lx
Pews for guests 100 lx
These values were to be accomplished in the church in Nový Dvůr as well. For completeness´sake, it is necessary to add that the church in Sept-Fons has darker surfaces, while the new building has white paint. However, this fact is an advantage because even in similar illuminance there is higher luminance on the walls of the church in Nové Dvory and the whole space is more enlightened.
Description of the proposed design
It is not clear at first sight from where the day light falls into the interior of the church. Just like with the required design of a set of artificial lighting, John Pawson ruled out the possibility that lighting fittings were visible. The next condition of the assignment was that the light modelling the space was to create the same impression both in daylight and after dark. Therefore, the artificial lighting had to be designed in such a way so that it was conceptually identical with daylight – indirect, reflected from the interior coat of skylights. The main lighting set is located on the internal side of panels. Linear fluorescent lighting fittings with electronic ballast were the most convenient as to the demands of lighting. There is about one third of lighting fittings with warm colour light (Tcp = 2700 K) and two thirds of lighting fittings with white colour light (Tcp = 4000 K). Low intensity of warm light can be of use mainly during morning and evening divine services when the space of the church is veiled in a mystical twilight that is suitable for meditations. With increase of daylight or in winter and dark days, the whole lighting set is used. The interior of the church is filled with white light, which gives the space a ceremonious impression. To intensify this impression, the walls of apsis with stairway that create a half circle closure of the presbyter are lighted with three lighting fittings inbuilt in the floor. The most significant place for liturgy is the hall with a cross and pillar where the statue of Virgin Mary is located. These are the only places where direct incidence of light was used. There are reflector lighting fittings hidden in the presbyter in skylight that are employed for lighting of the hall and cross. There are four lighting fittings with input 75 W and with 8° angle width of radiated beam of rays that are used to illumine the hall. Furthermore, two lighting fittings with input 50 W with 4° angle of beam of rays illumine the cross. Another two lighting fittings with input 50 W with 4° angle width lighten the statue of Virgin Mary. Here, it was important that the shadow created by the statue fell on the wall from the side - down to the wall edges of the skylights and inside the apsis where it can no longer be seen. All directed lighting fittings are dimmable. That was very useful especially during the realization when it was necessary to set different intensities of lighting according to the lightened places.
Parameters of the lighting set
1. Skylights in the presbyter
There are 33 lighting fittings Osram Lumilux Combi F-36 electronic in each of the two skylights, 11 of them are furnished with fluorescent bulbs with warm colour of light and 22 lighting fittings with white light. Lighting fittings with warm colour of light mark the border of the panel, while lighting fittings with white light occupy the interior area.
Lighting fittings are installed in the whole height of the skylight and that is why there are ladders inbuilt in the construction of the panel for their maintenance.
2. Skylights in the nave
There are 4 skylights, overall lower, easily accessible from the technical gallery. Method of lay-out and types of lighting fittings are the same as in the presbyter. There are 29 lighting fittings in every skylight, 7 of them radiate warm light and 22 white light.
3. Lighting of the apsis
This lighting is made of 24 lighting fittings Osram Luminux Combi – F 36 W electronic that are inbuilt in the floor gutter. The sources of light are fluorescent bulbs with white light 4000K.
4. Directional Lighting in the presbyter
For this purpose, 4 lighting fittings iGuzzini Le Perroquet 75 W with halogen bulbs with G 53 cap and 4 lighting fittings Le Perroquet 50 W with halogen bulbs with G 53 cap were used. Lighting fittings are furnished with electronic dimmable transformers.
5. Lighting of choir pews
Lighting fittings are placed in the upper part of the wooden wainscoting. For the lighting of one choir pew, 12 inbuilt tipping lighting fittings iGuzzini Pixel Plus with halogen bulbs Decostar Titan 35 W/12V with the angle of light beam 60° were used.
6. Pilot Lighting
Pilot lighting consists in lighting fittings Osram Luminux 18 W. There is a hidden lighting fitting located in every skylight. Pilot lighting fitting is placed in floor gutter in the centre of vault of the apsis.
Installed inputs:
Input of the main fluorescent lighting set: 7,42 kW
Input of halogen light: 1,34 kW
Input of pilot lighting: 0,13 kW
General installed input: 8,89 kW
Investor: Sept-Fons Abbey, France
General supplier: Starkon Jihlava CZ, Inc.
Author: John Pawson, GB
Co-author, designer: Ing. Arch. Jan Soukup, Atelier Soukup, Ltd. Pilsen
Idea project of lighting: Ing. Arch. Ladislav Monzer, CSc. Prague
Design of lighting: Ing. Jiří Pavelka, Etna, Ltd., Prague
Realization of lighting: Etna, Ltd., Prague
