When interior designer Colin Stone (of Stone Me!) was brought in, it was with the task of upgrading a typical 1980's social club interior - by creating an ever-changing environment which it would be equally comfortable hosting formal conferences, banquets and wedding receptions to full-on entertainment for up to 600 people.
"This was a very dated function room which resembled a big top inside," remembers Stone. "The client wanted it to be more contemporary - sufficiently warm for the majority of uses but with elegance and opulence to enable it to host wedding receptions.
"The logical decision was to keep the environment neutral and tackle it strongly from the lighting side, using colour-changing LEDs to create different scenes at the press of a button, which could be personalised to each event." This solution would also make it energy efficient.
A phone call to Colin's Essex neighbour, technology specialist Mike Glover of ESL, provided him with the solution. Glover has proved himself to be something of an expert in discreet colour changing LED - using either LED tape or recessed battens, programming colour-change sequences into an easily operable ShowCAD Artist lighting computer.
At the same time he has provided a highly specified sound system for both live performance and DJ use.
Two KV2 EX12 enclosures are flown either side of the stage, with a pair of EX2.5 subs recessed as a single point source, floor mounted behind the stage apron grilles.
As a result neither the incoming bands (or DJ's) need to carry their own production, since ESL have also provided a highly-specified DJ booth, based around a Denon DN-S4500 19in rackmount and Denon mixer. For band mixing provision has been made for a Yamaha 16-channel mixing desk and 16-way stage box.
Even sound coverage is distributed throughout the peripheral areas via 24 Vieta Mi-10 ceiling speakers while all the signal processing is handled in a state-of-the-art BSS Soundweb London BLU 80 configurable digital processor, which contains the gain structure, limiting, zoning and delay settings, depending on the type of event being staged. A pair of small BLU-3 wall panel remotes allow for localised volume control (and source select).
Glover specified four Martin Professional Mania SCX500 moving heads and a pair of Martin Mania EFX600 barrel effects (with 12 gobos) - with 16 conventional PAR cans off the ceiling providing the stage lighting.
(Jim Evans)
