Case Study
Church Lighting Renovation
How we designed and installed a complete specialist lighting system at Saint Makarios the Great Parish, a Romanian Orthodox church in Leeds. Working at 15 metres with KSR ecclesiastical fittings to bring hand-painted murals to life.
The brief
At Saint Makarios the Great Parish, a Romanian monk had spent months hand-painting extraordinary murals across every surface of the building, floor-to-ceiling iconography covering walls, ceilings, and arches. Biblical scenes, saints, and intricate decorative patterns woven between the Gothic arched windows.
When the paintings were finished and the congregation stepped back to take it all in, the existing lighting let the whole thing down. The old lights washed out the colours, left dark patches across the walls, and couldn’t do justice to the incredible detail in the artwork. Imagine spending months creating a masterpiece, then hanging it in a dimly lit room, that’s essentially what had happened.
We were brought in on a personal recommendation to design and install a complete lighting solution.
Before — the lighting letting down the artwork
The approach
We partnered with KSR, a lighting manufacturer that specialises in fittings for heritage and ecclesiastical environments. Together, we designed a complete lighting array to achieve two distinct scenes:
Even, warm light that brings out the colours in the murals and fills the entire space for everyday services. The congregation needed to see the artwork as the monk intended it to be seen.
A subtler setup that washes the beautiful wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling with soft light, creating an intimate, contemplative feel for late-night worship. Think of it like having two completely different rooms in one.
Every fitting was positioned for the right light angle and to stay as unobtrusive as possible. When the lights are on, you should notice the artwork, not the fittings. Cabling was routed to follow existing architectural lines, hidden from view.
During — working at 15 metres
Not a bad office for the week.
The result
The difference is night and day, literally. Where the murals once looked flat and muted under the old lighting, they now glow with the depth and richness the monk put into them. The blues, golds, and reds in the iconography come alive. The wooden ceiling, which was almost invisible before, is now a feature in its own right during evening services.
“Very professional!”
— 5-star Google Review
Got a specialist lighting project?
The principle behind this project applies to any space where lighting makes or breaks the experience. Whether it’s a heritage building that needs sensitive electrical work, a restaurant that needs the right ambience, a commercial space that needs to impress, or simply a room where the lighting doesn’t feel right, the approach is the same: understand what the space needs, work with the right products, and design a solution rather than just installing some fittings.
If you’ve got a lighting project that needs more thought than usual, we’d love to hear about it.
Need specialist lighting or commercial electrical work?
Give me a call or drop a message. Free advice, no obligation.