Make the Most of Your "Golden Oldies"
Effective Lighting Design For Historic Houses Of Worship

By Edwin P. Rambusch And Martin V. Rambusch

The standards and expectations for lighting in churches and synagogues have changed over the years. Worshipping congregations, following national population trends, now have a higher median age, and older members need better lighting to follow the service. The American public as a whole has higher expectations for indoor lighting.

In response, many houses of worship have simply fitted existing fixtures with more powerful lamps or light bulbs, but increasing wattage is not the best solution. These higher light levels may be more expensive to operate, and the glare they often produce can be uncomfortable to the eye and detract from the decorative historic interior.

Still, there are ways in which lighting units from the past--candleholders and free-hanging decorative lanterns, for example--can and should be integrated into a modern, efficient and balanced lighting system.

Survey your surroundings first

The first and most important task is the lighting survey. This survey should be completed by a lighting design professional, and it consists of two parts. First, the space is measured on site. Second, a floor plan is prepared, with transverse and longitudinal sections drawn to scale. On these architectural drawings, a lighting layout is made. Each lighting fixture is indicated on the layout, with projections showing the spread of the light produced. This layout is an essential document; it demonstrates what the lighting program will accomplish and aids electricians by showing where units should be placed and how light beams should be aimed.

Four lighting must-haves

An effective system for a worship space should incorporate at least four types of light:

1. Task or reading light

Task or reading light is usually generated by downlights, a term first used in a 1936 patent issued to the Rambusch Company of New York City. At that time, a downlight was a specific type of fixture, but it has since become a generic word used in the industry to describe light that comes down out of an orifice in the ceiling from a baffled, elliptical reflector.

Downlight provides efficient task light (for reading music or scriptures, etc.) to the horizontal surfaces in the space--pews, pulpit, ambo or choir area. Units that allow the greatest amount of light to be reflected into these spaces are the best, most efficient downlights. A well-designed unit, by means of its reflector, will accurately guide the beam of light.

Downlights should not produce any glare unless someone stands directly under them and looks straight up. A properly baffled light source reflects light at more than a 45-degree angle from horizontal. The result of proper downlight placement will be an evenly lit space, with no large areas of strong light or dark shadow. If poorly engineered downlights are used, more units will be required to produce a sufficient amount of task lighting. This will cost more in the long run, both for the purchase of the units themselves and the energy that will be used.

2. Indirect or architectural light

Many historic worship places are showcases of superb architectural and artistic elements. Ceiling frescoes, ornamental plasterwork, colorful wall stenciling and intricately carved and gilded column capitals are examples of craftsmanship that are as treasured today as in the past. But the natural light that originally made many of these features visible may have diminished over the years for one or more reasons.

For example, taller buildings often surround older worship places today. Darker stained glass may have replaced the original lighter glass, and skylights or clerestories may have been covered. As such, indirect or architectural lighting is the modern solution to enliven the architectural or decorative features of the historic worship space.

The actual locations of architectural lighting units will vary since their purpose is to draw attention to the decorative elements located high on the walls or on the ceiling that might not otherwise be seen. The most common architectural lighting is known as uplighting, or "wall washing," where a unit is placed close to the wall and shines directly upward, drawing one's eye to the top of the wall. Sometimes a unit is placed on the top of a column capital or tucked behind the spandrel of an arch to highlight colorful stenciling or carved truss work.

An added advantage of uplighting is its ability to counterbalance the large amount of light being delivered to the floor by downlights. This balance eliminates a "black-hole-for-a-ceiling" appearance.

3. Vertical or accent light

Whereas task and indirect lighting are used throughout the worship space, accent lighting is used very selectively to highlight either the area where action takes place or a significant architectural element.

By using different fixtures and varied levels of light, accent lighting naturally attracts the eye to the greater concentration of light, focusing attention on the pulpit, lectern, baptismal font or altar. To effectively accent an object, light should come from two directions: about 30 degrees to the right and left of center and 45 degrees from the vertical of the object. Accent light is especially effective when combined with a dimmer since it can draw audience attention to a space at the proper time.

4. Decorative or festive light

Decorative or festive lighting is primarily used for the pleasure of the viewer and often incorporates original or historic fixtures--usually candleholders, hanging lanterns, chandeliers, coronas or sconces--into the worship space.

Since these fixtures no longer provide task lighting, as they did in previous generations, it is possible to lower the wattage in the units and reduce any distraction the older units may cause in the new lighting scheme. With technological advances, all other elements of the lighting system can be hidden in the architectural elements and produce necessary light levels efficiently yet unobtrusively.

Using older light fixtures

Making older, existing fixtures produce the necessary level of task lighting can sometimes be difficult. These units can be retrofitted with higher wattage lamps, but the resulting glare is aesthetically unacceptable. A more important, hidden danger is in overloading antiquated, inadequate wiring, old sockets and poor connections, creating a serious fire hazard.

Older units with historical value should be incorporated into any new lighting system. The units can usually fulfill the function of providing decorative or festive light. Some--the gasolier with its original dual source of energy, electricity and gas, for example--are interesting from a technical point of view while others might have no particular technical or aesthetic distinction but are an important part of the collective memory of the congregation and should therefore be saved.

To begin a restoration process, lighting units should be inventoried while in place, then taken down and examined, their conditions noted carefully in the inventory. The units may then be removed to a workshop to be cleaned, polished, lacquered, repaired and rewired to be technically safe. If needed, parts can be replaced or altered to accept new lighting technology.

The result of restoring fixtures might be a pleasant surprise. A congregation in Rhode Island, for example, owned a mammoth crystal chandelier which had been hanging for almost 100 years. It was assumed that the dark brown armature was made of wood. But when it was removed and examined prior to restoration, workers discovered it was a dazzling, golden brass! Sometimes hanging lanterns are dark with soot, candle grease and dirt, and when cleaned, they reveal their attractive polychrome or gilt decoration.

Edwin and Martin are the fourth generation of Rambusches to work in the family business, which was established in 1898. With design studios in New York and workshops in Jersey City, N.J., Rambusch Company specializes in restoration projects as well as new commissions for museums, churches and public spaces. This article has been revised for print.