St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church
Originally powered by a 1963-era mechanical dimming system, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church needed a modern architectural lighting solution that would improve reliability, reduce energy consumption, and simplify operation without compromising the sanctuary's character.
Lighting Control & LED Modernization
Seattle, WA
Located in Seattle’s historic Montlake neighborhood, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church is a landmark worship space where architecture, tradition, and atmosphere are central to the experience.
BLS was brought in to modernize the church’s original 1960s-era lighting infrastructure without changing the visual character of the sanctuary. The goal was clear: improve control, reliability, energy efficiency, and illumination quality while making the new technology disappear into the existing architecture.
Project Overview
The church’s legacy dimming system relied on motor-driven autotransformer technology dating back more than sixty years. Previous LED replacement attempts had struggled to work properly with the vintage dimming infrastructure, necessitating a true system retrofit.
BLS replaced the outdated dimming equipment with a modern ETC DRd dimming rack and integrated digital control system, allowing the church to maintain familiar operation while gaining the benefits of modern lighting control.
Preserving the Sanctuary
Because the building’s historic character could not be altered, the upgrade had to be nearly invisible. Existing button stations, wiring pathways, and architectural details were preserved wherever possible.
The result is a modern lighting system that improves performance without visually disrupting the sanctuary. As intended, the new system feels like it has always belonged in the space.
LED Retrofit & Energy Savings
BLS integrated Canto USA LED retrofits along with LED lamp replacements throughout the sanctuary, reducing energy consumption while improving the quality and consistency of illumination.
The project included replacing high-wattage downlights and decorative lamps with efficient LED sources that deliver more usable light at a fraction of the power draw.
Smooth, Halogen-Style Dimming
A major priority was preserving the warm, gradual dimming feel expected in a traditional house of worship.
Using ETC PhaseAdept dimming modules and custom dimming curve programming, BLS tuned the system to provide smooth LED fades across both Canto fixtures and retrofit LED lamps. This allowed the church to gain the efficiency of LED technology while maintaining the familiar visual warmth of legacy halogen lighting.
Simple Preset Control
The new control system gives church staff the ability to recall lighting looks with a single button press.
Preset functionality allows the sanctuary to quickly transition between services, ceremonies, events, and daily use without requiring technical lighting knowledge. The result is a system that is both powerful behind the scenes and simple for staff to operate.
Minimally Invasive
During installation, BLS discovered that existing power conductors could not be repulled through the conduit as originally planned. After inspection, the wiring was determined to be serviceable and was successfully reused as part of the retrofit.
This approach avoided unnecessary disruption to the building while keeping the project aligned with the church’s preservation goals.
Result
The completed modernization gives St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church a clean, efficient, digitally controlled lighting system that respects the architecture and traditions of the space.
With ETC control, Canto LED retrofits, custom dimming profiles, and carefully integrated system design, BLS delivered a lighting upgrade that improves reliability, reduces operating costs, simplifies daily operation, and preserves the sacred atmosphere of the sanctuary.