CHURCH GROUNDS: ST. NIKOLAUS IN GARCHING AN DER ALZ

In 2018, the parish hall in Garching an der Alz was inaugurated. The building has a modern, yet calm and clear style, which harmonises perfectly with the neo-Romanesque church building and funeral chapel very close to it. The modular room layout can be used in a wide variety of ways. A clearly defined courtyard created by the clever positioning of the new building offers further space. For special events, the windows and doors of the foyer and the parish hall can be opened towards the courtyard, letting in plenty of light and creating a flowing transition between the inside and outside areas. The landscape architects designed the pathways, green areas and furnishing of the open spaces to suit everyday usage as well as celebrations and events. They also developed an overarching concept for the entire church grounds, which called for an equally comprehensive lighting solution.

Three different luminaires from the WE-EF range have been installed. Lighting for the courtyard and paths is provided by four-metre-high LTM440 light columns. Their style, a purist form uncompromisingly reduced to a cylinder, fits into the surroundings of the almost 150-year-old church building and results in a pleasing interplay with the modern architecture of the parish hall. With a connected load of 37 watts and controlled symmetric distribution, the LED luminaires produce the illuminance needed for the areas where people circulate.

Thanks to the integrated Eco Step Dim® Basic lighting management system, switching between a dimmed state of operation for everyday use and a higher luminous flux for events is a simple matter. It is not only the sophisticated lighting technology that makes the LTM440 light columns perfect for this requirement; their lighting aesthetics are also ideally suited to this application. Soft, glare-free light is emitted through the clear cylinder by the lens in the upper section of the luminaire, like a shining crystal – perfectly suited to the atmosphere of the parish garden.

In addition to the light columns, WE-EF supplied FLC141 LED projectors for the project, which highlight special architectural details on the church facade, together with linear ETV120 LED inground luminaires, which mark the main entrance to the church and add attractive lighting accents to it.

Principal: Catholic Church Foundation St. Nikolaus, Garching/Alz, represented by Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (KdöR), Munich.
Architecture: Kunze Seeholzer Architekten GmbH, Munich.
Open spaces: Fischer Heumann Landscape Architects, Munich.
Electrical and light planning: Engineering team Jürgen Wimmer, Altötting
Photos: Frieder Blickle for WE-EF.