France - Anolis ArcSource Outdoor 36 RGB lighting fixtures have been installed in a 'winter garden' feature in the atrium at the newly refurbished and re-opened College Lucie Aubrac in Dunkerque, France - one of the country's first HQE colleges.

Haute Qualité Environnementale (High Quality Environmental) is the standard for green building in France, based on the principles of sustainable development first set out at the 1992 Earth Summit. The standard is controlled by the Paris based Association pour la Haute Qualité Environnementale.

The garden was an integral part of architect Wallyn Sézille Eurl's vision for the re-build, and lighting it enables the space to be enjoyed after dark in addition to bringing an exciting new dynamic to the space. Naturally they wanted to use LEDs for all the energy saving and environmentally friendly properties - low power an

UK - Installation contractor Matthew Dilley of About Sound had more than English Heritage and the Diocesan Council to contend with when fitting the new JBL CBT (Constant Beamwidth Technology) columns to St Benet's Church in Cambridge - the oldest church in the city.

In the event, the installer turned the situation to his advantage. "We welcome challenges and restrictions such as this," he stated. "I derive no satisfaction in trashing historic buildings. But what you don't want to see is a pulpit ahead of where you want to place your speakers."

Angela Tilby, vicar of the Anglican Franciscan Church and well-known broadcaster, had long been aware of the shortcomings of the old omni-directional system. It was when she was appearing as guest preacher at nearby St. John's, where About Sound had installed a webcast system, that she remarked on how refreshing it wa

Palestine - The only movie theatre in the West Bank town of Jenin has been closed since 1987. Now Ismail Khatib of Jenin and German documentary filmmaker Marcus Vetter plan to bring Jenin's cinema back to life.

Ismail Khatib and Marcus Vetter were inspired to take on the mission of refurbishing Jenin's historic cinematheque during the making of Vetter's documentary The Heart of Jenin. The film received the Cinema for Peace Award for Most Valuable Documentary of 2009.

Renovations are scheduled for completion in the spring of 2010. Gerriets, the theatrical equipment company, is donating materials. In August the theatre will host the city's first international film festival, which a number of prominent guests, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mikhail Ghorbachev, and Roger Waters have already agreed to attend.

(Jim Evans)

China - Scarlet is no ordinary dance club; an unexpected juxtaposition of Spanish Colonial interior design as context to contemporary dance music. Scarlet is rightfully attracting the young and trendy of Shuzhou in ever growing numbers. Located in one of the most beautiful cities of Jiangsu Province on China's east coast, Shuzhou as a city is no stranger to fabulous architecture; its labyrinth of canals, stone bridges and pagodas rightly earned it the soubriquet 'the Venice of China'.

That's Spain, Italy and China in one breath, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised to find Germany added to the mix, for when it came to audio, Feng Pan of Nanjing Li Te Mei Technology Co, Ltd recommended loudspeakers from d&b audiotechnik. "There is a recent tradition in China for dance clubs to install enormous PA systems," explained Pan, "much bigger than is needed. The owners of S

UAE - The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest building, features Tannoy's of in-ceiling and in-wall loudspeakers integrated throughout the vast structure, on almost every single one of its 160 habitable floors.Over 5,000 of the Scotland-based speaker manufacturer's CMS Series in-ceiling loudspeakers have been installed, along with over 1,000 IW Series in-wall speakers.

The majority of the in-ceiling loudspeakers installed were CMS 501PI, which benefit from being supplied with a separate pre-install back can. These zinc plated, fully wired back cans are designed to be pre-installed into newly constructed, non-suspended ceilings leaving the product to be inserted at the final system commissioning stage of the install. This makes them particularly suited to large scale, potentially complicated new-build developments such as the Burj Khalifa, where the contractor needs to get

Italy - The Teatro Comunale di Bologna has some new players on its stage this year: Clay Paky Alpha Washes and Alpha Profiles.

The Teatro Comunale di Bologna was designed in the 17th century by Antonio Galli da Bibbiena, and was the first opera house to be built with public funds and hired out by the city council. Its bell-shaped auditorium consists of four tiers of boxes with a royal box and gallery. During its history, it has put on works by practically all the major composers, including Rossini, Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart and Donizetti.

Around the end of 2009, the lighting department managers / lighting designers Daniele Naldi and Andrea Oliva felt the need for a larger number of lights. Once they received the go-ahead and fixed budget from the Bologna city council, they turned to the major motorised spotlight manufacturers.

The Clay Paky Sales Manager for Italy Renat

UK - The Ashwin Street Christmas Street Party was part of a £750,000 London Development Agency funded project to revitalise parts of central Dalston. Organised by project architects MUF and J&L Gibbons - the event brought together local youth, community, performing arts, visual arts and creative industry organisations to create a snapshot of how the presently run-down area could be.

Arcola Theatre provided 18 PixelRange Micro Es and eight 50w birdies for the architectural lighting of the Colourworks and Print House buildings designed by Haberdashery London.

Arcola Theatre's David Salter reports, "The Micros were perfect for this event and produced the desired effect with ease. The event required a small unit that was easy to transport and discrete to install. The Micros benefit from an integrated power supply, silent operation and very low 31 watt power consu

USA - American Zoetrope, the film studio created and used by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola since 1970, recently completed the mix of Sofia Coppola's upcoming film Somewhereusing their new Meyer Sound Cinema Experience monitoring system. This same system was used to mix Mr. Coppola's 2009 release of Tetro.

"I'm very impressed with the effortless power and clarity of sound of the Meyer Sound cinema system," says Francis Ford Coppola. "If only every theatre had a system like this, they would have the same remarkable experience I have on my stage."

The Meyer Sound Cinema Experience system, based on the Acheron screen channel loudspeakers, which has been installed in Zoetrope's mixing stage, is part of a complete, integrated cinema sound line that enables sound designers and mixers to achieve unprecedented range and clarity of sound - and for audi

Norway - The Norsk Film Institute (NFI) in Oslo is the axle upon which the Norwegian film industry revolves. And with over 2000 screenings a year in its Oslo premises, roughly half of which are previews of major international releases for press and cinema owners, having quality vision and sound facilities are a fundamental requirement. It is with this in mind that the NFI has recently installed the first of Alcons' new Cinema Ribbon Monitor Systems (CRMS).

The NFI's Lillebil Room (named after the famous Norwegian actress Lillebil Ibsen) is a 68 capacity screening facility, where a constant series of daytime previews and evening showings keeps its equipment and staff busy.

"The sound has to be fantastic because of the status of the NFI," says the facility's Jan Olsen. "I had been aware of the Alcons pro-ribbon technology for some time and was eager to try somethi

UK - Small businesses are hoping to beat the recession by stepping up their sales and marketing strategies, a new survey has revealed. After cutting operating costs to the bare minimum, many smaller firms are hiring sales staff, improving their websites and boosting marketing activities in an effort to tackle tough trading conditions.

Research carried out by the not-for-profit Forum of Private Business (FPB) also found that business owners expect their efforts will pay off. More than half (56%) of those surveyed expect to increase their turnover in 2010 and 44% believe their business will grow.

The findings are the first of the FPB's new 'economy watch' panel - a body of more than 350 members who are sharing their experiences as the economy heads away from recession. The panel is designed to provide an accurate and timely reflection of what small businesses are experiencing on

UK - In an extensive upgrade programme at Glyndebourne Opera House, Stage Electrics has equipped the world renowned Opera House with an ETC dimmer and control installation, and Avolites dimmers for the company's annual touring programme.

The existing dimmer, lighting control and highly customized working lights installation, commissioned in 1994, was approaching the end of its reliable life and a radical change was required.

The move also saw the first UK installation of ETC's new lower amperage Sensor dimmer modules with a 10A MCB, allowing the original low-diameter wiring installation to be reused.

Glyndebourne's technical team, with head of lighting Keith Benson, recognised that with spares and support likely to become unavailable, and the system generally ageing, it was time for a complete upgrade. Stage Electrics' technical project manager Nick Broad says, "We prop

UK - Nike chose the dramatic setting of Battersea Power Station for their 2010 Innovation Summit and Stage One was chosen - as the event's scenic supplier. Brought in by experiential and event management agency, Slice Events, Stage One were asked to provide the internal fit out for The Boiler House, a temporary venue installed within the power station.

This high profile event, launching Nike's new Mercurial Vapor Superfly II boot and the new National Team jerseys, required Stage One to work very closely with Slice, Patrick Donohue, Slice Events' design co-ordinator and the Nike design team, to deliver a themed environment in keeping with Nike's iconic brand.

"This project evolved greatly during the design and build process and we worked closely with the design team to accommodate any changes and offer practical construction solutions - demonstrating our can-do attitude an

UK - Llanelli- based PAI has completed the installation of a sound and lighting scheme for the new University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) Student Union building, located at the Cyncoed Campus, north Cardiff.

PAI has enjoyed a trading relationship with UWIC for many years, and its relationship with the SU's general manager Mike Davies dates back to the early 1990s, when he was running the main university of Wales Student Union building in central Cardiff.

The new bar and social area - called Centro - is an essential hub of the new building. PAI was approached to come up with ideas for the technical elements required for the two levelled multi-purpose space, which has a capacity of up to 400 people and includes a bar, lounge, dining and performance areas.

They needed a solution that would work for both day and night time usage and be capable of accommodating a variety of

Australia - The Stamford Grand Adelaide Hotel at Glenelg is one of Australia's leading resort style hotels, boasting panoramic views of the ocean, city and Adelaide Hills. The Hotel's Grand Bar has been revitalised, refreshed and reinvigorated with a million dollar major renovation.

An unofficial icon of Adelaide, the bar formerly known as Pier and Pines opened 14 years ago as part of the five-star hotel now known as Stamford Grand. The venue constantly battled noise pollution which is not a great selling point for the five-star accommodation located above.

Jbn Sound Ceiling's regional manager Jim Barker heard through the grapevine that the venue was struggling and so he demonstrated the benefits of the Jbn Sound Ceiling to them. "A few months after the initial presentation I received a call from them and we had another meeting," explained Barker. "I explained h

USA - Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas (225,000 gross registered tons, 5,400-passenger capacity), boasts a spectacular and varied entertainment environment. From Broadway productions and comedy revues, to ice skating shows and hot dance clubs, Oasis offers a broad spread of entertainment options to cruising passengers.

A number of designers working independently on various projects aboard Oasis chose the same lighting - Acclaim Lighting. More than 650 LED fixtures and some control solutions from Acclaim are being used to light Oasis.

The largest application of Acclaim products is in the ship's 1380-seat Opal Theatre, where scenic designers Vicki Baral and Gerry Hariton (Hariton/Baral Design, Los Angeles) used 400 Acclaim X-Panels to create a wall of lights for the ship's production of the Tony-award-winning musical Hairspray.

As with so many things ab

USA - Cree reports that its high brightness LEDs are used in Lighthouse Technologies' high definition video screens installed this season in the American Airlines Centre, the Dallas home to both the NBA's Mavericks and NHL's Stars. Cree's versatile 3-in-1 high-brightness LEDs are delivering crystal-clear, high definition images to fans throughout the arena.

In addition to hosting thousands of NBA and NHL fans, the American Airlines Centre also features numerous concerts and live entertainment throughout the year. Opened nearly 10 years ago and seating up to 20,000, the installation of 25 Lighthouse LED video screens is part of a large-scale technological renovation project at the arena. This includes the first 1080x1920 high-definition video screen in any NBA or NHL facility. Overall, the new digital screens will increase video visibility throughout the facility, providing spect

UK - Centre of the Cell is a science centre helping children and young people learn about biomedical science and research through digital games and audio visual displays. The centre is located in a pod suspended over the biggest open plan research laboratories in Europe based in Whitechapel, London.

D.J.Willrich (DJW) was subcontracted by the lead contractor Beck Interior, to provide a full Medialon integrated system in Centre of the Cell. DJW also worked closely with the project designer, Land Design Studio.

In Centre of the Cell, visitors are immersed in a full audiovisual experience throughout five different 'spaces', or scenes. Being the main A/V show and media controller of the installation, Medialon is in charge of the set up of each of these scenes along with their timings. The Medialon system remotely controls the power up and down of all the A/V devices installed in t

Turkey - Every three years the World Bank - International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings are held outside Washington, DC. In 2009 this prestigious event took place in the Istanbul Congress Centre, Turkey.

Over 13,000 delegates from 186 countries participated in the meetings, which were covered by 2,000 media representatives and broadcast live by France 24 and BBC Television. The key meetings took place in a 3500-seat auditorium, while 28 meeting halls of various sizes enabled 250 separate meetings to be held.

The DCN Next Generation Conference System and the Integrus Digital Infrared Language Distribution System from Bosch were installed in the auditorium and 28 other meeting rooms by Atempo Project Contract Co. The Bosch equipment included 250 Concentus delegate units, 116 interpreter desks, 3000 Integrus wireless infrared receivers, 50 infrared radiators and five 16-cha

USA - Blending the modern with the traditional is always a challenge, particularly when it comes to architectural landmarks. Such was the case with the Lancaster County Convention Centre, a $170 million state-of-the-art facility designed to fit within the classic 19th century Pennsylvania Dutch façade of the city's landmark Watt and Shand department store.

The Convention Centre is designed for versatility, with a 46,000sq.ft exhibit hall, 9,000sq.ft ballroom and numerous other meeting areas. This same versatility also presented the biggest challenges in creating an audio system suitable for the space, explains Daniel Rohrer of Sage Technology Solutions in Mt. Joy, PA.

"Aside from addressing the vast differences in the architecture of each different space, we also faced issues of scheduling and coordinating the various phases of the project, building around the historical

UK - Perched high on the cliffs overlooking one of the UK's best known seaside resorts, Southend's Cliffs Pavilion Theatre has been kitted out with new Electro-Voice sound reinforcement systems by TED AV, commissioned by venue owner and operator HQ Theatres.

Its sister venue in Southend, the smaller Palace Theatre, went all EV a couple of years ago, and with close collaboration and resource-sharing between the two houses, there were considerable advantages in staying with the brand and with supplier Shuttlesound.

The Cliffs Pavilion is a receiving house, seating over 1,600 for a theatrical production, but with flexible set-up arrangements enabling 2,500 to be accommodated for live gigs. As one of the premier division of regional theatre venues, Cliffs Pavilion has to balance the needs of touring bands bringing in their own systems with the needs of visiting theatre productions

South Africa - The Fugard Theatre, with performances by the Isango Portobello theatre company, opened in the District Six area in Cape Town on 12 February 2010. The theatre has been named in honour of Athol Fugard in a rare example of a theatre being named after someone in their lifetime. The Train Driver, written and directed by Athol Fugard, had its opening night at The Fugard on 24 March, and is being met by sell-out houses and standing ovations.

Mannie Manim, executive director at The Fugard and formerly the CEO at the Baxter Theatre, says that the building construction took just a week beyond six months to complete, where three buildings were made into one unit. "It was an enormous labour but we had a fantastic building team," said Mannie.

Thanks to UK-based producer Eric Abraham, who established Isango Portobello in 2006, The Fugard Theatre is equipped w

Ireland - Located in the 18th century Cornmarket House in central Wexford, in the south-east corner of the Republic of Ireland, Wexford Arts Centre has been providing a wide range of contemporary art and entertainment for locals and visitors since 1974. Recently, the 120-seat main auditorium had a major technical refit, at the heart of which is a Yamaha LS9-32 mixing console.

The new system was designed by Mick O'Gorman of Dublin-based Mosco Sound Design and Recording, working closely with the venue's technical and facilities manager Ollie Dempsey.

"The existing system we had was becoming unreliable, and I spent half my life patching up and adding on to meet the increasing demands of artists," says Dempsey. "It was also a bit of a nightmare for anyone who was not 100% familiar with sound. They could operate the old mixing console, but the slightest problem would

Estonia - An Allen & Heath iDR digital audio distribution system was recently installed in the new Nokia Concert Hall in the Estonian capital, Tallinn. Declared the most modern concert hall in Northern Europe, the venue has the facilities to host conferences for more than 1,800 international delegates, as well as high-profile concerts and shows.

Purchased through Allen & Heath's distributor, Music Center Pro, installer Eventech managed the complete sound and light installation project, selecting an iDR system to manage audio distribution, control and zoning across the venue's many areas surrounding the concert hall, including foyers, artist rooms, backstage and stage managers' area.

The system comprised an iDR-8 16x16 matrix mixer, an iDR-in and an iDR-out expander unit, and an iDR-switch to enable the connection of external equipment, such as room dividers and relays. In addi

USA - Charlotte's Knight Theatre has been outfitted with a sound system that includes Renkus-Heinz's PNX102LA line arrays, along with centre clusters of STX4-Series loudspeakers.

Part of the newly-completed Wells Fargo Cultural Campus that also houses the 55-story Duke Energy Centre, the Mint Museum and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the 1200-seat Knight Theatre is home to the North Carolina Dance Theatre, the Charlotte Symphony, and a wide variety of music, comedy and touring productions.

The diverse roster of performances was one reason for the selection of the Renkus-Heinz systems, says project manager Robert Delaney of Raleigh-based Strategic Connections. "The Knight Theatre is a very well designed space, with diffusers that can be rearranged to adapt its acoustics to different types of program material," he explains. "To make the most of this flexibilit

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