High Tech meets warmth at Grace Church
- Details
With its sweeping inwardly curved stage, gently arched ceiling, fanned seating arrangements, the inside of the church resembles a contemporary theatre or conference centre yet makes worshippers feel at home by projecting a sense of warmth and intimacy via the Chauvet Professional Ovation and COLORdash LED luminaires that CSD used to anchor the lighting system.
“This church is fully contemporary in style, but its leaders also wanted an immersive environment with a sense of transcendence,” says Doug Hood, president of the CSD Group. “The even warm white front and stage lighting we got from the Ovation fixtures makes it easy for worshippers to see the stage and connect to the people on it. When you look at a well-lit stage, you are more likely to become immersed in what you’re seeing.”
The CSD team positioned 12 Ovation F-165WW Fresnels and 16 Ovation E-260WW with 26-degree lenses on downstage truss for front washing and key lighting. A collection of 16 COLORdash Batten-Quad 6 linear fixtures is arranged along the front of the stage for low angle color foot lighting.
Adding colour and warmth to the design are 16 COLORdash Par-Quad 7 fixtures, which were placed in each of the truss structures. In addition to serving as truss warmers, these fixtures enhance the room’s architectural features. “The truss warmers provide a sense of height to the room without full lighting,” says Adam Henderson, operations manager of the CSD Group.
The Ovation fixtures do more than crate an engaging environment for worshippers attending services at the church, they also enhance the quality of Grace’s video recordings. “This is a very forward-looking church and video is an important part of its outreach,” said Henderson. “We definitely had to light for camera. The good balanced white wash and natural looking warm white light we got from the Ovation fixtures was important.”
(Jim Evans)
