Familiar to many Harry Potter fans, as the inspiration for Hogwarts, The Great Hall, Christ Church College Oxford was built in 1520, when the Henry VIII founded the college.  The Great Hall has been in almost constant use since then as the spectacular setting for the Student’s dining hall.  When the students are not streaming in for breakfast or sitting down for formal dinners, the Great Hall is full of visitors, fascinated by the amazing portraits lining the wall – including the dominant central painting of Henry VIII, and spotting favourite features from the films.

In 2023 we were approached by Architect Ptolemy Dean to look at how the existing lighting could be improved.   The paintings were already expertly lit, and although the Hall was flooded by light during the day, by night the upper part of the hall was dark & gloomy.

Our brief was to design a subtle lighting scheme that enhanced, but did not overpower the existing lighting scheme.  In addition the scheme was to be achieved by ensuring most of the light fittings were hidden and not visible so that they did not interfere with the architecture.

Our first task was to create a computer model of the Great Hall.    Usually at this stage we would gather a wide variety of architectural drawings showing floor plans, elevations and sections but in this case this wasn’t possible.  Luckily there were a few drawings dating from 10 years ago and using those and photographs our amazing technician created a computer model of the interior spaces.  We could now design and manipulate lighting on computer to see how the fittings would work.

The design was created both photometrically and visually so that we could further manipulate beam angles and light power on computer before confirming the specifications of the light fittings.

Once we were satisfied with the modelling we set up a night-time test on site so that we, and the College Committee commissioning the project, were happy with the lighting effects.

Once the scheme had been approved, bespoke luminaires were designed and ordered and several nights of installation followed.  The Great Hall is always in use, by students dining or visitors sightseeing, so the installation was conducted after hours and well into the night.  Thanks to the amazing installation team.

It was quite a challenge, but now we can see the final result perfectly blends in with the existing lighting.  The effect is subtle but uplifting, the ceiling & stone is softly lit and the beautiful gold ceiling bosses glow.