The lighting design expresses the architecture’s quality and volume by emphasizing its verticality and creating a consistent luminous flux on the ceiling. The lit columns provide a deliberate contrast that highlights the ornamentation from the base of the arch and tapers off as it climbs. The altar and the tabernacle are at the centre of the perspective.

Functional lighting comes from top of the columns, where two 3000K LED projectors are installed, with a fixture on each side of the nave and choir. Some of the sources are directed at the pulpit, the lectern and the altar. The latter gets cross-lateral beams for better task lighting levels. Volume lighting also comes from the top of the columns, where 3000K linear projectors cross the nave while giving the ceiling presence in a uniform manner, highlighting its patterns. The lighting from the base of the columns accents the sculpted elements, refining the column and its verticality.

The windows, false windows and stained glass are lit with 4000K linear projectors, their optics outlining the frames and enhancing their visual congruence with the nave. On the altar, two 3000K linear projectors upwardly graze the wall, making the canopy stand out. For its part, the canopy is outfitted with 2700K linear projectors that backlight the ornamental spikes and accentuate the “Virgin and Child” on top of the altar.

Two projectors on the choir accent the tabernacle with a soft 2700K glow, while two 3000K linear projectors soberly illuminate the two chapels’ transepts. A 4000K LED strip outlines the recumbent effigy of Sainte-Thérèse-de-l’enfant-Jésus. And finally, under the gallery’s ceiling, recessed 3000K LEDs provide general lighting.

Official name of the project: The Carmelite Chapel of Montreal
Location: 351 Du Carmel Montréal, QC H2T 1B5
Client: Le Carmel de Montréal / Sœur Marie-Denise Leblond, economist
Architects/designers: Josette Michaud, architect, Beaupré et Michaud, architects
Monika Kuhnigk, architect, Beaupré et Michaud, architects
Project Manager: Josette Michaud, architect, Beaupré et Michaud, architects
Engineers: François Brunel ing, Caron, Beaudoin et associés
Contractors: Construction Gilbert Dumas
L’orange Électrique
Lighting Design: Gilles Arpin, Jean-Pierre Smith, Claude Alarie, Maiko Sato
Project Cost: $90,000
Inauguration Date: December 25, 2011
Photographer: Pierre Bélanger

LIGHT SOURCES

Lumenpulse: Lumenfacade LED – 15.75 watts to 63 watts – 3000K – 105,000-hour lifetime
Lumenpulse: Lumenfacade LED – 15.75 watts to 63 watts – 4000K – 105,000-hour lifetime
Lumenpulse: Lumenbeam LED – 22 watts to 44 watts – 3000K – 105,000-hour lifetime
Lumenpulse: Lumenbeam LED – 44 watts – 2700K – 105,000-hour lifetime
Sistemalux: LED –MINI DUO LED 14.5 watts
Heico Lighting: LED – Virgolite 4000K

Power Consumption: 1,820 watts – annual cost $446