CONTEXT
The sobriety of the Chapel exterior facades contrasts with decorative richness that is revealed inside.
The building, completed in 1931, is in the neo-Renaissance style. Shortly after its construction, between 1932 and 1933, the decorator A. Sauvage, created a series of frescoes covering a large part of the walls of the chapel with a procession of characters (saints, apostles, etc.). In 1935, glass roofs, as well as a series of monumental mosaics are executed by the Mauméjean Brothers workshop, in the Art Deco style.
Classified as a Historic Monument since 2011, it is today the property of the Municipality.
A major renovation operation was carried out in several phases of work between 2019 and 2023 (the lighting was installed during the last phase).
The chapel has been desecrated, and it is now used for various events, guided tours, concerts, shows, etc.
LIGHTING CONCEPT
The lighting highlights the richness of the Chapel decoration, which is a jewel of Basque Art Deco, and provide good visual ambiances for the public.
The lighting principles were designed with the following objectives:
– Provide homogeneous lighting on the large vertical elements, for a clear reading of the pictorial and chromatic richness : the frescoes of the nave and of the side chapels ; the large mosaic of the choir.
– Highlight the architectural volume, through indirect lighting of the nave ceiling wooden beams, and the wooden ceilings of the side chapels, whose colours are characteristic of the Basque Country architecture, green and red.
– Highlight the altars in the choir and in the side chapels, as well as the large painting of the Crucifixion, in the nave.
– Maximal integration and discretion of all the lighting devices.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
Flexibility of use of different devices by numerous lighting groups and dimming of the main lighting (search for an easy-to-use and inexpensive solution).
Technical and energy sobriety: ratio of 7.4W/m2, including all the lighting devices inside the chapel with a ceiling height of 11m.
Precise selection of photometry: for example, in the side chapels, to highlight the frescoes from a short distance , the small downlights combines a “wall wash” optic and an “elliptical” optic.
Robustness of the lighting fixture, although installed in a indoor space, almost all the luminaires are made for outdoor use, to resist to the variation of thermal and hygrometric ambiance, in a monument not permanently occupied.
