Prize(s) Honorable Mentions
Company Cybulska+Partner
Lead Designers Herbert Cybulska
Other Designer's names Yvonne Standtke, Wolf Dieter Thonhofer
Client Evanglische Kirchengemeinde Alzey
Photo Credits Herbert Cybulska
Other Credits Macholz Kummer Architekten Darmstadt, Digitalicht AG
Completion Date 2022
Project Location Alzey, Germany
Entry DescriptionSparseness and abundance
Lighting design in the listed Nikolai Church in Alzey
In the Rhine-Hessian town of Alzey, there is a central Gothic church building that was repeatedly robbed, plundered and burned by absolutist French emperors and troops during the Thirty Years' War. What remained were gothic half-timbered outer walls, a Romanesque figural group of mourners, as well as a torso of the Crucified. Remnants from an era marked by warring violence.
On the occasion of the restoration of the interior, the Darmstadt architect team Macholz-Kummer submitted a bold plan for the redesign, envisioning a space that was as empty, bright and dignified as possible, while avoiding anything cozy or decorative. The results of the last major 1930s renovation were largely reversed: the room was stripped of dividing staircases, half-height wall offsets and a gallery without an organ in order to let it "breathe" and for better effect. Dark sandstone simulation paint on columns and parts of the masonry was removed, and a predominantly white-looking plaster, nuanced with gray and white tones, was applied.
Gothic cathedrals are spaces of light. Without showing luminaires as a design element, lighting solutions were developed for the space that allow the room to be experienced solely through the direction and quality of light. The architects' concept for the space and the lighting designers
Sustainability ApproachThe Nicolaikirche is open to visitors for most of the day. During the opening hours, the church is well lit by daylight. Only small accentuation is utilised in the bright summer months, for the dark season a slightly brighter lighting atmosphere is used.
For concerts, church services and meditative events, luminaires are used that have been programmed in pre-set light scenes for different occasions. All luminaires are dimmable by a DMX control system. By using high-quality optics and highly efficient LED technology, energy consumption has been reduced by over 80% compared to the original lighting. The LEDs are powered in such a way that they are going to have a long service life. All luminaires are revisable and repairable. Since only pre-programmed light scenes can be selected, no more energy is ever consumed than necessary.
