Award Winning Hope Street Church was formed after the Diocese of St Asaph bought and refurbished the former Burton retail store on Hope Street in Wrexham.

Recently voted ‘Best Public or Community Building in Wales’ at the LABC Awards, this winning project was the culmination of three years refurbishment of Hope Street. It now offers a spiritual home to young people, families and people from all sorts of backgrounds. Set across all three floors, the building includes worship space, meeting and counselling rooms, a kitchen, a hospitality area and a base for social and community projects.

As part of the full refurbishment, work on the ground floor included a kitchen and a flexible cafe-style area for community events plus a contemporary prayer space, creating a quiet oasis for people.

On the first floor there are rooms for children and for seminars along with staff offices and shower and toilet facilities. The second floor has been converted into a worship and event space with seating for approximately 180 people.

The scheme was designed by Lawray Architects of Wrexham and Dextra was chosen by Principal Contractor, Simmonds Group/Spatial Environments, to work alongside their subcontractor, APCO Electrical, and consultants, Carpenter Davies Partnership (CDP). The aim was to create an industrial style with exposed brick, grey ceilings, exposed services and black fittings.

THE SOLUTION

To help with this look, 4 of Dextra’s Runway Continuous Surface/Suspended were fitted with the standalone REAS 7A LL sensor. Ideal where lighting must fulfil both architectural and practical purposes the Runway Continuous Surface Suspended provides a seamless appearance that can be infinitely reconfigured to dramatic effect. With an extruded slim line aluminium housing available in grey, black or white options the Runway can be either surface mounted or suspended in continuous runs combined with corner sections, a range of lengths and lumen outputs and with optional bi-directional distribution.

This flexibility is further enhanced with optional integral emergency, white tunable, dimming, integral sensors and two optic styles, a minimalist opal finish or microprism for glare compliance for use in office and school areas.

Alongside this, the Runway Continuous Surface Suspended’s sister product-the Runway Surface/Suspended was also installed in the church.

In the stairwells, the Amenity Exterior Open was used, with 26 installed. The Amenity Exterior includes premium mid power LEDs offering excellent efficiency and longevity with a lifetime of L90 at 60,000 operating hours. Energy savings can be further enhanced with a selection of integral presence detection and bright out microwave sensors including on / off, bi level dimming and wireless variants allowing luminaires to be grouped for simultaneous operation.

Elsewhere, the Comtec LED Surface was also used in the building, with 16 fitted in total, 5 suspended with the CTEC Suspension kit.

This luminaire is ideal for solid ceilings or where there is insufficient ceiling void for a recessed luminaire. With a range of options including 1100, 2000, 3000 and 4000 lumen outputs and all common dimming variants, the Comtec Surface is easily tailored to a range of applications and is supplied with a clear glass attachment as standard, opal glass attachments are available as an optional extra.

Alongside this, 22 LED4S, a surface mount emergency LED, were fitted with an all black finish.

Also used on the project were 2 of Dextra’s HBE2 LED’s. This is a highly versatile exit sign designed to suit nearly all emergency exit applications. The standard product is suitable for both suspension and surface mounting, whilst the blade angle can be pivoted through a range of angles when mounting onto sloped ceilings. In addition to this, recessing kits and wall mounting kits are available as optional extras.

In keeping with the surface/suspended style in the church, the Dali Track Surface/Suspended was chosen for use in the office space and auditorium areas, where 26 three metre and one 2 metre versions were installed. Here, the track was suspended in a square arrangement. The auditorium is controlled via Helvar Scene Plate SS with a black insert, supported by stand alone sensors in the circulation areas.

Dextra’s Dali system offers users the ultimate flexibility, enabling them to create and control specific lighting zones to enhance the environment. It is offered with a comprehensive selection of recessed track and accessories; the three circuit offering has been designed for the professional and is renowned for its reliability, durability and quality finish.

Alongside this, the Coulis Maxi was also used, where 110 luminaires were fitted in the office space and auditorium areas. This luminaire has been designed to offer a simple yet effective solution for lighting displays.

Elsewhere in the building, 2 Opus Wallpack’s were fitted. The Opus Wallpack combines a modern and minimalist design with a durable and robust construction and a lensed optic that minimises upward light distribution and light pollution.

Also used on the project was the popular AME LED, IP65 LED Self-Contained Polycarbonate bulkhead, and seven EXI2 LED on the exit routes.

Finally, 2 of Dextra’s Typhon luminaires were installed. The Typhon is a robust and durable IP65 luminaire suitable for a wide range of industrial and commercial applications where protection against water and dust ingress and light impact is critical.