Set in the heart of Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, Saint Pauls Market is a vibrant new food hall that brings together independent traders, social dining and a relaxed, all-day atmosphere under one roof. Light Forms was appointed to deliver a lighting scheme that feels as eclectic and characterful as the locality and venue itself, balancing visual comfort with the drama and energy guests expect from a contemporary market hall.
Working closely with the Interior Designers Studio R2A and Contractors Dawnvale, Light Forms developed a layered solution that responds to the architecture and the operational needs of a busy, 500-seat, walk‑in-only street food destination. The aim was to create a warm, welcoming backdrop for traders and guests while providing the flexibility to support different service periods, from lunchtime grazing through late into evening.
Lightplane 2.5 profiles form the backbone of the scheme, running through the main market space to provide a coherent illumination that ties the hall together. These profiles incorporate high-output linear LED uplighting to emphasise the volume of the space, while continuous track on the underside carries more than 100 Nova62 fixtures, allowing the lighting to be finely tuned to changing layouts and tenant line-ups over time. The result is a robust, future-proof solution that can adapt as the market evolves.
Around the food hall, Pyxis 110 and Carina 86 downlights deliver comfortable general illumination, ensuring circulation routes and seating areas are evenly lit without detracting from the character of the architecture or the traders’ own visual identities. TinCan 157 surface downlights and matching wall lights add another layer of detail, picking out key architectural features and providing accents that help to zone the generous open floorplate into more intimate pockets for visitors.
One of the most striking elements of the scheme is the use of Lightrod 80, which creates a distinctive linear feature along the front of the food outlets and at the main entrance. This continuous gesture gives the traders’ façades a shared rhythm and presence, guiding guests intuitively through the space and reinforcing the sense of arrival from street to the halls delicious treats. Paired with the background layers of downlighting and profile lighting, it helps to deliver a cohesive visual language across the entire venue.
Throughout the design and delivery process, the focus remained on user experience: ensuring guests can easily navigate the hall, traders can present their offers at their best, and the operator can rely on a durable, efficient lighting system that works hard behind the scenes. From ambient dining light levels to brighter, functional scenes for cleaning and turnover, the system has been carefully calibrated to support every operational mode.
Commenting on the project, Paul Shoosmith at Light Forms said: “Saint Pauls Market has been a fantastic opportunity to bring together performance and atmosphere in a single, cohesive scheme with some longstanding collaborators. Our goal was to create a flexible lighting solution that celebrates the character of the food hall, supports the traders, and gives visitors a memorable experience every time they walk through the door.”
Peter Brown, Contracts Manager at Dawnvale, commented “Saint Pauls Market was a complex and exciting project to deliver, with a strong emphasis on quality, character and operational performance. Working collaboratively with Light Forms allowed us to integrate the lighting seamlessly into the architecture of the space, enhancing both the customer experience and the functionality for traders. The finished result is a vibrant, well-considered food hall that reflects the modern spirit of the Jewellery Quarter and sets a new benchmark for social dining across the West Midlands”
With its blend of architectural integration, flexible track-based illumination and carefully considered feature lighting, the Saint Pauls Market scheme showcases how Light Forms’ product families work together to support complex hospitality environments while maintaining a strong, unified visual identity.
Project credits:
Contractor: Dawnvale
Designer: Studio R2A
Lighting: Light Forms
Photography: Courtesy of Dawnvale
