In one of the oldest and most important libraries in the world, ERCO
lighting solutions present valuable manuscripts in compliance with
heritage protection requirements.

The Abbey Library of St Gall preserves numerous key works of
European intellectual history. The heart of the collection is its
corpus of early medieval manuscripts dating from the 8th to the
11th centuries, most of which were created on site. Added to the
UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983, the Abbey Library is now
one of Switzerland’s leading museums and attracts almost
200,000 visitors each year. In the Baroque Hall, ERCO LED
spotlights mounted on custom-made track illuminate both the
valuable book collection and temporary exhibitions.

The Baroque Hall of the Abbey Library was built between 1758 and
1767. It is considered the finest non-ecclesiastical Baroque interior in
Switzerland and one of the most perfectly conceived library buildings in
the world. The hall takes the form of a five-bay wall-pillar hall. A gallery
runs around the room at mid-height. Along its length, bookcases and
window niches alternate in a wave-like rhythm. The pillars project into
the hall and are reinforced at the corners with decorative Corinthian
columns. Between them and the flat pilasters, the books are housed
in barred bookcases. The historic floor is especially worthy of
protection, which is why the hall may only be entered wearing felt
slippers.

The challenge: Making the entire room visible without direct
light falling on the centre of the hall

The Baroque Hall is crowned by a magnificent ceiling decorated with
elaborate stucco work and vaulted paintings, making it the brightest
surface in the room. The ceiling is both a visual focal point and a
reflector that brightens the centre of the space. Because particularly
light-sensitive exhibits are displayed in showcases in this central
area, it must not be directly illuminated for conservation reasons. "We
developed lighting that, so to speak, ‘clings’ to the walls and ceiling
without directly illuminating the centre of the room”, says lighting
designer Andreas Gut, who was responsible for the library’s new
lighting concept. "The heritage authorities also required uniform
lighting for the Baroque Hall using luminaires that were as unobtrusive
as possible.”

Andreas Gut achieves this by using numerous individual spotlights to
accentuate the historic furnishings and bookshelves, creating a
uniform overall impression. In close consultation with the heritage
authorities, he opted for the smallest available ERCO LED spotlight
family, which offers a range of light distributions within a consistent
design language. Black Eclipse 48V spotlights in size XS illuminate the
bookshelves and the valuable documents they contain throughout in
warm white 3000K light. The spotlights are mounted on a specially
manufactured curved Minirail 48V track along the underside of the
gallery. With the “ERCO individual” service, tailor-made solutions can
be developed to meet special project requirements.

ERCO Eclipse with interchangeable optics:

One spotlight family for maximum flexibility
"The spotlight system with interchangeable Spherolit lenses offers a
high degree of flexibility, especially for the changing temporary
exhibitions in the hall,” says the lighting designer, explaining the
decision to use ERCO products. “It was important that people
perceive the light, not the luminaires.” The slender black Minirail 48V
track disappears discreetly behind the surrounding wooden trim at
the lower edge of the gallery and adapts perfectly to the curves of
the Baroque architecture.

“Only in the very tight radii did we have to interrupt the track and
continue the power supply discreetly with cables”, says Andreas
Gut. On the gallery, Eclipse spotlights were recessed into the
wooden floor using Minirail point outlets and protected from foot
traffic with metal housings. The floor is not as old and thus not a
heritage element.
Because the overall lighting level in the room is relatively low, the small
spotlights were sufficient. “For conservation reasons, 50 lux was
specified as the maximum limit for manuscripts and sensitive exhibits”,
explains Silvio Frigg, Head of Conservation and Security at the Abbey
Library, who supervised the project on site. All of the lighting –
consisting of Eclipse spotlights on track around the gallery, a few
existing spotlights on the railing, and linear luminaires for the ceiling –
can be adapted to different usage scenarios via Casambi Bluetooth
control.

“We can choose between preconfigured settings for general museum
operation, for events such as concerts or readings, or even for guided
tours on specific themes”, says Silvio Frigg. And although there is now
more light in the room overall than before the new lighting was
installed, energy consumption has remained roughly the same –
underlining the energy efficiency of ERCO lighting solutions.

Project data

Project:
Abbey Library of St Gall, Switzerland

Lighting design:
Andreas Gut, St Gall, Switzerland

Control:
Studio Tschümperlin, Alpthal, Switzerland

Products:
Eclipse 48V spotlights, Minirail 48V track and singlets