With some church buildings built over 1,000 years ago and some built this year, there has been a lot of variation in window size and shape. From arched, cinquefoil, and lancet, to clerestory, rose, and oriel, Finnestra has developed a wide range of bespoke shading solutions to suit all styles of church windows.
As well as being places of worship, many churches also have more varied community uses as nurseries, community or youth centres, food banks, community advice and many other causes. Newer-built churches may even be built with these functions in mind, incorporating large windows requiring shading. Sermons have also changed over the years and can now incorporate TV screens, projectors, and visual aids that may require shading against glare.
Many old church buildings are now also deconsecrated and have alternative uses as homes, community projects, shops, leisure and hospitality spaces and offices. (Our directors own a former church with 12m high lancet windows!)
In these renovations, the windows are often listed, and cannot be altered or replaced with double or secondary glazing.
As well as light shading, shaped blinds can assist in insulating the building and helping to regulate internal temperature, especially in warmer months.
Over the past decade, we have installed hundreds of automated blinds in both old and new church buildings, enabling new ways of worship and helping the space adapt to its new use. These include shaped bottom-up blinds fitted both internally (for light and heat insulation) and externally (for lighting management and stained-glass preservation).
Whatever its current use, if you are looking for advice for shading church buildings, get in touch with the experts at Finnestra for our advice and insight into your interior.