Lumenpulse’s Strasbourg Cathedral Project Wins Darc Award

Strasborough 1

 

Nov 12, 2017

STRUCTURES: Best Exterior Lighting Scheme – High Budget

The appearance of one of Europe’s most important cathedrals has been transformed with an extraordinary new lighting design from Lumenpulse that uses 400 luminaires. The project recently won an international Darc award. Considered one of the greatest masterpieces of gothic architecture, the iconic Strasbourg Cathedral revels in newfound splendour. The precise and sensitive work of light and shadow creates a highly balanced, poetic ambiance that highlights and embraces shadows.

 

One of the greatest challenges was to sustain a global and uniform quality of light, and the creation/respect of shadows in the centre of the city. Six hundred LED projectors create warm accent lighting and highlights, which contrast beautifully with the cast and modelled shadows, and result in an overall glow and a peaceful illumination. The ambient lighting effect is achieved using concealed light sources (2700K, 2SDCM), which allow the deep colours of the sandstone and the intricate layers of masonry to be revealed. Focal glow and highlights enhance the numerous architectural details and plentiful sculptures using Dynamic-White luminaires on the building to produce two lighting scenes that play out during the night.

The “Sandstone” is the keyframe of the project. Mostly striped brown and yellow, the stone include a deep and rich gradient of red and purple (corresponding to the R8 – R9 CRI, the weakness colour rendering in diodes quality). Lumenpulse measured and selected a colour temperature of 2700K, dominant length wave (582nm), and chromatic distortion to ensure the quality of light.

The firm worked on splitting and positioning the flood sources for regular modelled and cast shadows, and emphasised the impressive elevation (142m). The consistent quality despite all the different sizes and shapes of floodlights was another challenge for the project. To protect the building (about 14 km of cables and 400 light-sources are installed on the building), all the installation is made without any holes drilled into the stone, only the stone joints. Clamping sleeves, collars, and fixture corsets were created on demand and adapted as needed, projectors were painted onsite to match the colour of stone. Everything can be removed without damage to the building.

The initial terms of references, asked for a “highly qualitative light, revealing the iconic and magnificent architecture of one of finest examples of late Gothic, respectful of its millennial story, and its sacred meaning. Lumenpulse chose to create a precise and balanced illumination, between shadow and light. They combined global ambient lighting with a fixed 2700K to emphasize the volume (in a low lux level, with strong requirement on CRI). The focal glow and highlights enhancing the architecture, intricate layers of masonry, and sculptures come from dynamic white luminaries. The soft gradient of subtle tints allowed Lumenpulse to create two different fixed night-time effects (warmer in the recesses of the building; cooler in the elevation).
No luminaires (except recessed ingrounds) are visible from the external part of cathedral, resulting in a balanced, quiet, “chiselled light” and a magnificent poetic glow of the building.

The primary lighting suppliers included Lumenpulse, Louss, Insta, Radiant, and WE-EF.

About the Darc awards

Darc is an international magazine focused on decorative and design lighting in architecture for the specification and contract markets. Anyone can enter the competition: lighting designers, architects, interior designers or manufacturers. Once the shortlist has been chosen by an international jury of independent architectural lighting designers, each of the 1,400+ lighting design firms and their designers in Darc’s international database are invited to vote on their favourite projects.
Strasborough 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Articles


Latest Articles

  • Virtual Training for Electricians Available at Many IBEW Canada Training Centres Across the Country

    Virtual Training for Electricians Available at Many IBEW Canada Training Centres Across the Country

    June 23, 2025 Virtual Training for Electricians (VET) is now available at many IBEW Canada Training Centres nationwide — and more are coming online soon! Whether your centre is already equipped or in the process of setting up, this is a game-changing opportunity you won’t want to miss. Need assistance? Contact the NETCO team. What… Read More…

  • Designing for Demand: The Role of Transformers in a Resilient EV Future

    Designing for Demand: The Role of Transformers in a Resilient EV Future

    June 23, 2025 Transformers in the EV Charging Boom: Are We Ready for the Load? As electric vehicles (EVs) continue their rapid rise, one question looms over the energy sector, municipalities, and developers alike: Is our infrastructure truly ready for the surge in demand? From city streets to highway rest stops, new EV chargers are… Read More…

  • The Time is Now: An Industrial Energy Efficiency Action Plan

    The Time is Now: An Industrial Energy Efficiency Action Plan

    June 23, 2025 In a whitepaper released on June third, ABB has set out the scale of the challenge facing the global industrial sector and emphasizes the critical role of industrial energy efficiency in meeting rising energy demand while strengthening energy security & affordability and driving industrial competitiveness. With 45% of the world’s electricity converted… Read More…

  • Multi-Family Construction Intentions Weigh Down Residential Sector

    Multi-Family Construction Intentions Weigh Down Residential Sector

    June 23, 2025 In April, the total value of building permits issued in Canada decreased by $829.6 million (-6.6%) to $11.7 billion. British Columbia (-$1.2 billion) led this decrease in construction intentions, which was mitigated by Ontario (+$299.3 million). On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of building permits issued in April fell by 6.6% from the previous… Read More…


Changing Scene

  • Stanpro Makes Significant Donation to Help Haven on the Queensway Move to a Larger Facility

    Stanpro Makes Significant Donation to Help Haven on the Queensway Move to a Larger Facility

    June 23, 2025 In an effort to provide essential resources to individuals and families in need in the GTA, EFC members once again stepped up to support Haven on the Queensway, a community resource centre in Etobicoke, ON. Earlier this year, Haven secured a new, larger location nearby its existing facility to meet growing demand… Read More…

  • Metalumen Manufacturing, Inc. Announces NRG INTENSI-T as New Sales Agency in Quebec

    Metalumen Manufacturing, Inc. Announces NRG INTENSI-T as New Sales Agency in Quebec

    June 23, 2025 Metalumen Manufacturing, Inc. is pleased to welcome NRG INTENSI-T as its new sales agency for the Quebec region. This partnership strengthens regional support and reflects a shared commitment to innovation and excellence. Since 1977, Metalumen has been designing, engineering, and manufacturing lighting products that blend functionality with design, offering luminaires tailored to… Read More…

  • IDEAL Electrical™ and BILT® Make it Easier to Learn Conduit Bending

    IDEAL Electrical™ and BILT® Make it Easier to Learn Conduit Bending

    June 23, 2025 Conduit bending – one of the hardest skills for professional electricians to master – is now easier than ever to learn, thanks to a first-of-its kind partnership between BILT, an app that has revolutionized step-by-step interactive instructions for DIYers and IDEAL Electrical, a 108-year old manufacturer of electrical tools and supplies for professional electricians…. Read More…

  • Introducing the New WAGO App: Your Jobsite Sidekick

    Introducing the New WAGO App: Your Jobsite Sidekick

    WAGO at your fingertips — scan the QR to get the app now. Stay connected with WAGO wherever you go. Download the WAGO App to access product details, documentation, configuration tools, as well as local distributors — all from your mobile device. Scan the QR code to get started on the App Store or Google… Read More…