When Lambeth College in south-west London undertook an extensive building programme to create a new 6000 square metre Sixth Form Centre including new Drama and Dance Studios, it was to local lighting supplier White Light that they turned for advice, equipment, installation and support.
“Both of the new performance spaces are flexible,” comments Roger Hennigan, White Light‘s Technical Sales Manager, “with the Drama space able to be divided into three areas depending on how the tutors want to use it. This required us to design and install three lighting grids as the space can be divided into 3 with acoustic partitions. The grids are internally wired incorporating both 16 amp dimmer and DMX data outlets, and the installation includes vertical booms, floor traps and wall-mounted outlet boxes also including dimmer and DMX outlets. A Triple E Chain track was installed to provide a back drop / projection surface when the space is in one studio mode.
White Light also supplied a comprehensive new lighting rig, including Clay Paky Alpha Wash and Alpha Spot moving lights, Selecon RAMA Fresnels, ETC Source Four Zooms and Source Four PARs and Thomas 4-cell floods, together with mains and DMX cable. A new dimming system consisting of 82 ways of ETC Sensor modules (60 dimmers, 12 contactors) was also supplied and installed.
For lighting control, “the college stipulated that the tutors must be able to quickly and easily control the lighting in any of the spaces, regardless of how much training they have had,” Hennigan explains. For performance lighting control, White Light supplied two ETC Ion lighting consoles, providing full control of conventional or moving lights and able to be located in the control room or studio as required. This left the need for a more general lighting control system – “and fortunately, ETC’s new Unison Paradigm architectural control system arrived just in time!”
Designed to supply complete, easy-to-use lighting control, Paradigm uses touch screen panels to provide direct access to individual fixtures or pre-programmed lighting states. Lambeth College became the first European installation for Unison Paradigm, the touch screens were configured by White Light to offer exactly the control required by the college.
In the smaller Dance Studio, White Light supplied and installed a simpler lighting grid again offering 16 amp and DMX data outlets, fed by a twelve way ETC Smartpack dimmer rack controlled by an ETC Smartfade console. In this space a rig consisting of Selecon Acclaim 650W Fresnels and ETC Source Four Junior 25-50 Profiles was supplied.
“We think that we have given Lambeth College two versatile studio spaces that are quick and easy to set up and change, and providing lighting facilities comprehensive enough to enable them to create any type or style of production they wish,” notes Roger Hennigan.
Lambeth College – about which further information is available from www.lambethcollege.ac.uk – is one of many school and college projects to have benefitted from the experience and wide range of equipment available from White Light, others include the American School, Bird College, the Richard Challoner School and Kingsmead School. Further information about these projects, and the full range of products and services available from White Light, can be found at www.WhiteLight.Ltd.uk.
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