In Vieuvicq, a small village in the countryside south of Chartres in the Centre-Val de Loire, the church of Saint Martin is known for its octagonal bell tower, which stands out against the steeply sloping roof.

The lighting design, supervised by heritage architect Claire Guiorgadze, aims to use light to bring out the building’s different colour tones, particularly the pink plaster of the external wall surfaces and the grey bricks used in the bell tower.

The fixtures chosen for this project were Siri 3.0 projectors fitted with anti-glare hoods: a fixture with a warm light (2700K) was chosen to light the entrance to the church, while the bell tower was lit by fixtures with narrow optics (6° and 12°) and a cold light (5000K). The resulting colour contrast highlights the bell tower and throws its silhouette into relief against the blue hues of the sky above the French countryside.

The interior spaces were also upgraded with new lighting: the internal profile of the three pointed arches was emphasised using the 54°x15° optics of the Ginko 2.0 projector. The church's high altar dates back to 1694 and comes from the church of Saint Saturnin in Chartres, which was destroyed during the French Revolution. To light it, Zab Track 1 track-mounted projectors were selected with high colour rendering indices (CRI 94 and 98) in order to show to full advantage the details of the imposing gilded wooden tabernacle.