Light for the last escort
In the Gräberkirche St. Mariä Heimsuchung in Alsdorf, the lighting strengthens the concept of conversion
In the former Catholic parish church of St. Mariä Heimsuchung in Alsdorf, the existing room proportions were scaled and recoded as part of the conversion concept to a columbarium. The lighting follows the architects' cautious concept with soft illuminations and thus underlines the dignity of the place.
Upon entering the single-nave church building via the darkly designed entrance hall, the eye is immediately drawn to the central axis of the eight-bay church interior. For there a golden glow settles over the chapel space, arousing curiosity and encouraging one to move forward. Since the reconstruction in 2022 by the office Zweering Helmus Architektur + Consulting, the central axis of the expressionist eight-axis brick building, completed in 1935, has been enclosed by a fragile baldachin-like sculpture, whose slender metal profiles follow the pointed arch structure and hover below the cross vault. The sculpture's thin brass chains, which visually connect the metal profiles in a supple curve, literally set a highlight in the room. This is because the illumination with warm LED light makes it shine in a soft atmospheric glow. The sculpture stages a pleasant as well as auratic place of transcendence and divides the nave into chapel and Stations of the Cross.
Uplights positioned out of sight create magical lighting atmosphere
The contour of the room, which transitions from the outer wall surfaces into the pointed arch structure, was shifted inward by carefully inserted space-creating elements, thus defining a chapel room with seating for 100 as well as a quadrum with a baptismal fountain. In the rhythm of the church bays, the newly formed chapel space is bordered by a structure of dark urn cabinets on which the lighting designers from Deltalight have positioned ultra-flat Gala XL ceiling washlights radiating directly upwards. They extremely discreetly brighten the ceiling vault, which remains visible thanks to the transparency of the inserted ceiling sculpture, while also illuminating the chains. The invisible position of the floodlights, which are above eye level, creates a magical atmosphere of light. Openings between the stelae allow a spatial connection of the central chapel with the surrounding burial sites. Between the urn walls, seating areas invite people to linger and commemorate.
Light to see for worship
Wide-beam Frax spotlights are mounted on the keel beam of the ceiling sculpture, which follows the longitudinal axis of the chapel space below the vault, illuminating the area of the historic, restored pews with 120 lux and thus providing sufficient light for recognizing the text and notes of the hymnals during the farewell services. For the area of the altar with the cross behind it, the lighting designers chose narrow-beam variations to sufficiently illuminate the altar and set off the wrought-iron cross fixed to a metal wall disc. To emphasize its plasticity, the cross is illuminated by two Spy spotlights that create a double shadow.
Subtle illumination of the Kreuzweg
Boxy spotlights are mounted in linear sequence directly on the ceiling vault in the Stations of the Cross. With their beam angles of 20°, they cast grazing lights on the urn cabinets, which hold 1845 burial compartments. They produce only enough light to allow recognition of the engravings in the solid brass tomb slabs.
