This paper presents experimental approaches for evaluating concert lighting from the viewpoints of audience members and performers in Cambridge King's College Chapel. We develop image zoning and abstraction techniques to quantify and interpret photometric data acquired under four different electric lighting conditions. Assessed by 78 participants, these lighting scenarios are compared across six different viewing positions using a set of structured questionnaires. Ordered logistic regression modelling shows that the ratios and functions describing uniformity, brightness and light patterns are common explanatory variables for predicting perceived visual clarity, visual uniformity, brightness and spatial intimacy. Uniformity-related attributes are observed to be among the strongest variables for all these perceived qualities, except for visual clarity, which is better explained by acuity-related measures. These experimental results confirm the applicability of our approaches, highlighting the importance of combining multiple methods and integrating complex architectural situations into the process of understanding luminous appearance.

Lighting experiments were performed in a real context populated with dummies and objects. Using the King's College Chapel in Cambridge as a case study, two field surveys of concert lighting were performed, one with the chapel empty and one with it occupied. In each survey, photometric data were collected under three electric lighting conditions and from six different viewing positions. A comparative analysis indicates that the data gathered from the occupied space represent the luminances more accurately, present a more detailed description of the light distribution, and provide a more extensive set of variables characterising the geometrical details of the visual scene. This study demonstrates the importance of using occupied spaces and considering the presence of occupants in field studies, which could be useful for obtaining a more complete understanding of complex luminous environments.

Using experimental data from four electric lighting scenarios at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, we developed an integrated approach to evaluating the overall impression of concert lighting. First, we performed a group analysis based on the aggregated response from the audience, conductor and musician respondents, followed by an overall analysis accounting for all 624 responses. Ordered logistic regression analysis revealed the absence of statistically significant subjective–objective relationships for perceived visual balance, appropriateness, comfort and the overall impression. There were, however, significant results when the variables were correlated with subjective attributes. This suggests that the perceptual process was bi-level. To gain a more complete understanding of the perceived qualities, it is necessary for an approach to consider not only the intercorrelations between the subjective and objective measures, but also the intracorrelations among the subjective attributes. Further analysis of variance showed that increasing the overall lighting intensity was more likely to lead to a lower level of satisfaction. Nevertheless, providing peripheral and directional lights appeared to be the key to improving the overall impression. This paper confirms that combining detailed and generalised approaches to evaluate subjective responses can yield more meaningful interpretations, enabling relations with measures to be established with greater confidence.