The classic ballroom, which dates back to 1853, is located within Accrington Town Hall and run by Hyndburn Leisure working in partnership with Hyndburn Borough Council. It recently underwent a £750k respectful restoration to enhance its striking original features, as well as bring its technical facilities right up to date for hosting modern events.
When it came to upgrading The Ballroom's stage and architectural effects lighting systems, the venue wanted to invest in a modern system which could provide a 'wow' factor - and allow the room's look to be tailored for - during their diverse range of client events.
Kerry Smith, cultural services manager at Hyndburn Leisure, approached A.C. Special Projects' director, Lance Bromhead, to specify, supply, install and commission the full lighting & control system for the venue.
Following a consultation and on-site demonstrations, Lance specified Traxon Niner Allegro XB RGB colour-mixing fixtures in an assortment of lengths to graze the walls of the room with effects lighting. The 50 x 10° lens on the fixture provides a very narrow beam of light with no spill, making it ideal for wall-washing.
For the room's separate stage effects lighting system, the venue wanted an impressive visual enhancement for singers, orchestras, and other live performers. Taking into account these technical requirements, Chroma-Q Color One 100 LED Pars fitted with optional four-leaf barn doors were specified to provide rock 'n' roll style wash-lighting over the stage, as well as effects lighting for the curved truss and legs running around the front of the performance area.
A Traxon e-Cue glass touch control panel provides staff with simple operation of seven preset white and coloured lighting looks specified by the venue, to cater for the room's regular events. In addition, a Jands Vista S1 console provides simple yet powerful custom lighting control for requirements such as larger corporate events or shows requiring more sophisticated or bespoke stage lighting effects. A Chroma-Q Magic Box A/B Switch allows staff to manually select between the two control systems.
In addition, ACSP specified a Zero 88 Betapack to enable the room's chandelier white house lighting to be DMX controlled from the Jands Vista S1 console - providing the ability to lower the house lights in sync with bringing up the stage and wall lighting.
ACSP also provided half a day's training on the Jands Vista system for the venue's in-house technician. Due to its visually-based user interface, the control console is ideal for users with little or no past experience operating lighting desks.
Other equipment supplied included a Christie DHD600 6,600 lumens DLP projector with a choice of HDMI, VGA and video inputs, and a 4 metre wide electric screen, for the venue to project media content during conferences, wedding receptions and other events.
The room's energy-efficient LED system has contributed to a reduction in The Ballroom's event lighting power consumption, and shortened set-up times for events due to the lighting's colour-mixing palette as compared to the original system's conventional pars utilising coloured gels.
Kerry Smith commented, "The Ballroom is the jewel in the area's crown, so given the level of investment made to restore the room to its former glory, we wanted to upgrade to a high performance effects lighting and control system which would provide a visually impressive complement to the room's interior. The elegant solution provided by ACSP delivers on everything we wanted - it's easy to use, gives us and our clients total flexibility to tailor the lighting to their bespoke req
