Thorn Lighting gives Bishop Auckland’s historic Market Place a new lease of light

Bishop Auckland’s historic Market Place has long been at the heart of the town. Today, as significant investment continues to regenerate the town centre for residents and visitors, the role of this important public space is evolving too.

The existing scheme combined four large decorative columns with ceramic metal halide lamps in the square and conventional SON lanterns serving the surrounding streets and car parking areas. Durham County Council wanted to replace this ageing infrastructure with a state-of-the-art solution that would enhance the Market Place after dark while supporting the festivals, celebrations and community events that increasingly bring added life to the space.

For Thorn Lighting, the brief presented an interesting challenge. The new scheme needed to respect the traditional buildings surrounding the square and provide comfortable, appropriate illumination for everyday use, but it also needed the versatility to become part of the event experience itself.

Respecting history, embracing change

The solution was designed around two very different personalities.

On most evenings, the RGBW luminaires combine their colour channels to create a warm-white 3,000K setting for the Market Place and its surrounding architecture. The lighting to the square and buildings is remotely programmable and can also be dimmed when appropriate.

When the town comes together for an event, the same infrastructure can take on a completely different character. RGBW lighting, GOBO projection and wireless control introduce colour, movement and customised projected designs, with specific scenes programmed for different festivals and community events.

Craig Lensky, Key Account Manager, Outdoor Lighting at Thorn Lighting, explains: “What made this project interesting was the contrast between what the Market Place needs day to day and what it can become during an event. The everyday scheme needed to feel warm and sympathetic to the historic surroundings, but behind that sits the technology to completely change the atmosphere when the occasion calls for it.”

Six columns, countless possibilities

At the heart of the new scheme are six bespoke 12-metre feature columns positioned around the main square.

Their arrangement takes up minimal space while providing the required lighting across the Market Place, with particular attention paid to the large central area used for events.

Mounted across the six columns are 31 Thorn CONTRAST RGBW floodlights. Their combination of high output, optical control and colour capability allows the same infrastructure to support everything from the everyday 3,000K scene to dynamic event lighting.

Each column also incorporates interchangeable GOBO projector brackets and waterproof power sockets for festoon lighting. Potential additional loads were factored into the columns’ torsional calculations from the outset, providing safe, adaptable infrastructure for future events.

Designed by Thorn and manufactured by Fabrikat, the columns and associated steelwork incorporate custom brackets, carefully selected paint finishes and Bishop Auckland’s distinctive Bishop’s Mitre emblem, creating contemporary infrastructure with a strong connection to its setting. 

Control without digging up the square

Delivering that level of control presented another challenge.

The DMX player is located on the balcony of Bishop Auckland Town Hall, with control cabling connecting the architectural lighting around the building and neighbouring church. Extending conventional DMX cabling from there to the RGBW luminaires and GOBO projectors across the Market Place would have required a very different intervention.

The route would have crossed a main traffic road before continuing between each of the six feature columns and along the side road towards the War Memorial. Thorn estimates that this would have required more than 300 metres of trenching through established stone paving, followed by reinstatement.

Instead, wireless DMX was used to communicate with the lighting and GOBO projectors across the square. Existing underground cable duct and power supplies were also retained, tapped into and extended wherever possible to provide power to the new lighting, further reducing the amount of new infrastructure required.

Craig explains: “Wireless DMX wasn’t simply about giving the client sophisticated control. Running a conventional control network would have meant more than 300 metres of trenching, including crossing a main traffic route and disturbing established stone paving. By separating power from control and using the existing electrical infrastructure wherever possible, we could deliver the functionality we wanted without that level of intervention in the Market Place.” 

Heritage in the details

Twenty-two Thorn Legend luminaires with illuminated finials introduce a more traditional lighting language around the church, town hall and surrounding streets. A sequence of seven columns with twin Legend lanterns creates a strong visual line from the Main Square towards the War Memorial, with illuminated finials adding a decorative detail after dark.

Bishop’s Mitre emblems incorporated across the columns and many of the brackets, together with carefully selected paint finishes, reinforce the scheme’s connection to Bishop Auckland.

15 CAELON inground uplighters bring greater definition to the façades of the town hall and church after dark. The CAELON luminaires sit within custom-made sandstone housings designed to protect against water ingress, while the architectural lighting was carefully aimed onto the buildings to minimise upward light.

Together, the different elements create a clear hierarchy across the public realm: functional light where people need it, architectural illumination for the surrounding buildings and dynamic effects for events. Redundant lighting equipment was recycled wherever possible in accordance with WEEE requirements.

From concept to commissioning

Detailed visualisations allowed the council to see how the different elements would work together and how the Market Place could change between everyday and event settings before the design was finalised.

Thorn then developed the lighting design, configured the bespoke lighting and designed the steelwork and accessories, manufactured by Fabrikat. Discussions with heritage stakeholders helped shape the treatment of the town hall, church and surrounding historic architecture.

Durham County Council carried out the installation, while David Harris of Thorn Zumtobel Group commissioned and creatively programmed the DMX controls. Pre-programmed event scenes and customised GOBO slides give the council a palette of effects ready to use as the events programme develops.

A square that changes with its community

The completed scheme brings functional, architectural and event lighting together within one coordinated design. Paul

Gleadow, Durham County Council’s street lighting and operational support manager, comments: “As part of our ongoing work to regenerate Bishop Auckland, we wanted to introduce lighting to the Market Place that could do much more than simply illuminate the space. It had to respect Bishop Auckland’s historic character while giving us the flexibility to transform the area for festivals, celebrations and community events. We can completely change the character of the space through light when an event calls for it, while the bespoke details give the installation a real sense of place and make it feel very much part of Bishop Auckland.”