Floodlighting
The floodlighting of Trinity United Reformed Church was a special architectural project and was probably a world first when installed due to the way the building and access steps are lit using L.E.D. Jonathan suggested using a L.E.D. based system to floodlight the building and provide illumination of the steps as a way to address the concern the members of the church had about the lack of illumination of the access steps and the poor lighting of the front of the church building. He undertook much research and negotiated with fixture manufacturers until appropriate fixtures were available to fulfil his design rquirements. After initial tests proved successful, he acquired appropriate permissions, including planning permission, for the new installation and then designed, and had made, the bespoke stainless steel brackets used in the installation. The system is carefully designed to be low power (less than 300w at full output) and to have minimal impact on local wildlife. The careful choice of fixture optic and focussing means no light spills on to the foliage which is less than twelve feet away from the building. It is anticipated the installation should last for over 25 years and in that time need minimal maintenance. The installation is designed such that no access equipment is required if and when maintenance is needed.
Some years on, members of the church, visitors and the local community still give an enthusiastic response to the installation. The system is used to to colour theme the building with different colours relating to occasions in the Christian calendar and as a way of registering other events such as remembrance day. There has been press coverage of this innovative scheme in local newspapers and lighting trade magazines. Jonathan has also advised on architectural lighting for several other churches and some retail premises.
Sheffield by night has gradually taken on a more artistic look as several other major buildings in the city installed L.E.D. lighting schemes.
Heritage Open Days Projection
In September 2007 Trinity United Reformed Church took part in the Heritage Open Days.
To promote the event Jonathan conceived the idea of using projection onto the unique frontage of the church building.
He created entirely bespoke footage with explanations of the history of the site along with eye catching animations and pictures of features of the interior of the building.
The projection helped raise awareness of the event and attracted plenty of attention, sometimes a little too much as at least one person was seen to walk into a lamp post due to looking at the projected footage instead of looking where they were walking!