The Horsefair Project, Bristol.

Dating back to 1739, John Wesley’s Chapel, The New Room is the oldest Methodist building in the world and the first Methodist building licensed for public worship. From the offset, the Main Room was used as a place for education. To continue John Wesley’s legacy, the project’s aim was to create an exciting educational and resource centre with modern study facilities.

The Horsefair project features the new three-storey building attached to the existing Horsefair courtyard, offering facilities like; meeting rooms, catering and refreshment areas, and appropriate toilet facilities. The new building has a café and a shop on the ground floor, a library and archive on the first floor and The Horsefair room (a multi-purpose facility room on the second floor).  The new project also allowed for the expansion of the Museum in the room above the existing chapel. 

299 Lighting started working alongside the team of consultants at Ramboll in April 2015, with the actual building work commencing in January 2016. Our team assisted with the product specification for the visitor’s centre, supporting Ramboll with product samples and technical knowledge. 

By moving the offices, meeting rooms and library to the new building, the Horsefair project releases the entire upstairs of the 1748 building for use as a Heritage Museum. This additional space will transform the display and will enable the telling of the story of the Wesley brothers and their influence. 

The Lopen surface was also used in regular pattern for lighting the corridors and circulation areas.

The Horsefair project has been a long-term project with a timescale of over 24 months. The lighting was delivered in time for the official reopening of the New Room in June 2017. The result is a visually attractive scheme with varied lighting and contemporary design. John Wesley’s Chapel now has a new state of the art visitor’s center that reflects on its vision for the future.