The Church of Porza stands on a hill in the Swiss district of Lugano which dates back to the 17th century and although small in size, the church holds significant historical worth. Recently, the church underwent a solid-state lighting (SSL) retrofit that was aimed to focus the beauty of the building without affecting the historic structure in any way.
B Light has supplied a number of LED luminaires that have aesthetically fulfilled the goals. The Church of Porza was dedicated to Saint Bernardino from Siena in the Tuscany region of Italy and Saint Martino from Tours in France.
The building has a single nave and a bell tower with an octagonal drum. The baroque-neoclassical church is in an enthralling setting with views of the hills in the Lugano area.
Porza holds historic as well sacred values, henceforth, it was important that the lighting of the monument should be done in an aesthetic way. The deployment of LED lighting should be such that does not impact the structure for both religious and historic reasons. Small LED form factors and low power requirements have made an SSL retrofit the only option for projects where the desire is to improve the quality of the lighting design.
B light was asked to light the bell tower, the churchyard and the outdoor area enclosed by low walls. Basically, the goal was to keep a solemn atmosphere whilst enhancing the beauty of the place and making entrance and exit safer for worshippers.
B Light installed Inserto Medium DO luminaires that are recessed into the surface in an asymmetrical pattern in order to light the passage leading to the entrance of the church and portions of the churchyard. The luminaires both deliver some uplight to the front surface of the church and portal and light the passage. The bell tower, meanwhile, is lit with Linear Tube 112 Slim fixtures that, as the name implies, feature a tube-shaped form factor that can uniformly light such a structure while being hidden from direct view.
The luminaires are installed inside the bell tower, making the bell clearly visible against the contrast of the night sky. Under the benches, B Light deployed Button 100 DO luminaires that have optics designed to reduce glare. More-directional and recessed Meropre 140 AD luminaires provide uplight on the trees. The rest of the lighting was mainly focused on trees and benches located in the churchyard. The church of Porza is going to join the list of sacred sites where worshippers will enjoy the benefits associated with LED lighting.
