NORTHERN LIGHT UPDATES HOUSELIGHTING AT THE MINACK THEATRE with GDS Blues System

Minack Theatre - GDS

Nestling against the dramatic backdrop of the Cornish coast, almost at Britain’s most southerly point, lies the Minack Theatre – a gloriously visual outdoor performance venue.

Northern Light have recently completed the upgrade of the venue’s houselighting, which included cabling infrastructure, fixture renewal and DMX distribution.

Chris Watts, who had overall responsibility for project management on behalf of Northern Light, said: “It truly has been a joy to work on such an exceptional venue. An open air theatre presents its own unique challenges, particularly in terms of mother nature. The bulk of the installation took place in January during extremely inclement weather, but we stood up to the wind and rain and finished the job on time and on budget.”

He continued: “The only other real issue was the distraction provided by the beautiful scenery!”

Northern Light’s project included site testing, fixture removal and replacement, cabling, power supply units, DMX distribution, control and commissioning.

New Blues System LED fittings were manufactured by Global Design Solutions Ltd. (GDS) and supplied by exclusive distributor TMB. An ADB Swing12 has been installed and was chosen because it allowed the most flexibility. The two sets of 12 faders mean that full on and lower glow states can be set up and the fader controllers allow fading between each state or fading out of both using the master fader.

“It’s really rewarding to work with partners such as GDS and Northern Lights to bring such a prestigious project to fruition,” says Sarah Cox, TMB’s Architectural Sales Director. “The Minack Theatre houselight redesign was the result of months of cooperative planning and we are thrilled to see it come to life! TMB has seen a growing demand for Blues System in a variety of applications worldwide, but the Minack really brings the extra ‘wow’ factor we strive for in this business.”

The existing houselighting in the theatre consisted of 124 exterior lanterns containing 25 watt lamps distributed throughout the auditorium.

Phil Jackson, Minack Theatre Manager, said: “As you can imagine, that many 25W lamps got through an astonishing amount of power. The replacement of our houselighting came about as a direct result of our aim to cut power consumption, embrace new energy saving technologies and reduce time spent on maintenance.”

Northern Light removed the existing fixtures around the entrance buildings and auditorium and replaced them with GDS LED Warm White Domes. In addition, 16 GDS LED Blue Domes were installed for the backstage area and two GDS LED 10 degree beams were positioned to highlight the nameplate citing Rowena Cade as the creator of the theatre.

Matt Lloyd of GDS commented: “For many reasons, GDS LEDs are perfect for this venue. Principally, the Minack’s aim of a reduction in power consumption is now easily achievable and the longer life of LEDs ensures less time performing routine maintenance. The domes are sealed IP rated fixtures, meaning that the risk of sea water finding its way into lamps is vastly reduced. Finally, these LEDS are fully dimmable – ensuring that the capacity for ambient lighting is maintained.”

The addition of the LED domes – which are scattered all over the auditorium – enables a warm glow when night falls to complement the magical setting.

Part of Northern Light’s installation involved definition of existing cable runs and termination of cables in either new or existing back boxes. The company were also responsible for the installation of control power supply units, DMX outlets and DMX patch panel in the control room.

In total Northern Light put in place 750 metres of 4 core 1.5mm SY cable, 500 metres of Proflex DMX cable and reused existing site 4 core SWA.

Chris Watts confirmed: “Getting the fixtures in place really was the easy part of this project. The part we really focused on was creating the circuits and a plan of where each circuit on site is – there was nothing in existence before.”

Theatre Manager Phil Jackson added: “Finally having a circuit plan of the auditorium pleases me greatly – ease of general maintenance has increased considerably. The team at Northern Light truly excelled themselves in the execution of this project and I’m extremely pleased with the results.”

Northern Light also provided spare parts for the existing ADB luminaires which are part of the stage lighting. These lanterns have been used for many years and are appreciated for their ability to withstand the adverse climate conditions that an open air theatre can bring.

Colin Cuthbert, Managing Director of Northern Light, said: “The Minack Theatre is the second high profile technical installation that Northern Light have carried out in the area in the past year – the team were also responsible for an upgrade of dimming and associated items at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro. The team thoroughly enjoyed working on such a beautiful venue in such a picturesque locale.”

The Innovation Award Winning manufacturer GDS, reported overwhelming success at this year’s ProLight and sound show in Frankfurt. This was the first time GDS had exhibited at the Frankfurt show and it marked a major success for the UK and US based company.

GDS showcased the newest addition to its technology based product portfolio, Liteware UL, a battery powered RGB uplighter with wireless DMX control. Liteware is a stand-alone controllable light source with 24 hours battery life, the cableless fitting allows quick and easy installation and set-up reducing man hours and cost for the user or installer. In addition to the uplighter GDS also exhibited its custom flightcase with charging distribution built-in and a floor bracket which allow the fitting to be mounted at an angle for versatility.

Matthew Lloyd Managing Director of GDS commented,

“We are delighted with the success of the show, we generated a vast number of international enquiries throughout and the continued exposure of this product has created a real buzz. This gives us the ideal platform to keep the successful momentum generated in the UK and take the product to the international market”

The GDS team where joined at the show by their newly appointed US director of sales Scott Vontobel. Vontobel has headed up the company’s New York office since his appointment on the 1st February 2009 allowing the company to focus on its product range and brand in the US.

Scott Vontobel Commented,

“Although we are facing difficult times, with such a strong portfolio of products and the staggering enthusiasm that the market has shown for them throughout the show, I am confident our US operation will continue to go from strength to strength”.

Global Design Solutions is an award winning technology based company specialising in product development, supplying technical, commercial and design consultancy to the entertainment and associated industries. For more information contact Andy Duffield – andy.duffield@gds.uk.com

www.gds.uk.com

Global Design Solutions are delighted to announce the appointment of Andy Duffield in the newly created position of Business Development Manger. Andy has many years experience within the Audio & Lighting industries and has previously worked for prestigious companies within the entertainment industry since 1993, recently concentrating on brand strategy and development.

Andy has been brought into the business to strengthen the rapidly expanding team at GDS. His main objectives will be to reinforce GDS’ already strong product portfolio, supporting its global distributor TMB in its existing markets, whilst also developing new business. He will be responsible for establishing new products into new and existing marketplaces. Matt Lloyd of GDS commented, “Andy brings with him a wealth of experience and technical knowledge over several markets, he reinforces our quality driven approach to business, we are delighted to have him on board and look forward to an exiting future”

GDS is an award winning specialist manufacturer of technology based products for the entertainment and associated industries. They have recently won their second PLASA Innovation award, on this occasion for their innovative new product MOBAL a cable diagnostic tool. Other accolades include winning the ABTT Lighting Product of The Year for two years in a row with Blues System and MOBAL.

For more information contact GDS.

Global Design Solutions is an award winning technology based company specialising in product development, supplying technical, commercial and design consultancy to the entertainment and associated industries.

Product Development is at the core of GDS’s business, developing new inventions specifically aimed at integrating technology in niche markets and solving specialist problems. In its first four years of trading GDS successfully developed several award-winning product ranges and has taken them to market. The most recent offering is to be showcased at Musikmesse in Frankfurt this April, the first product in the LiteWare range is a battery powered RGB uplighter with wireless DMX control. LiteWare is a stand-alone controllable light source with 24 hours battery life, this cableless fitting allows quick and easy installation and set-up reducing man hours and cost for the user or installer. In addition to the uplighter GDS have developed custom flightcases in either 6 or 10 way with charging distribution built-in. GDS will be exhibiting at Musikmesse in Hall 9 Stand E08.

In September 2008 GDS won its second PLASA Innovation award for the innovative new product MOBAL, a cable diagnostic tool. Other accolades include the ABTT Lighting Product of The Year Award two years running for Blues System and then MOBAL.

For more information contact Andy Duffield – andy.duffield@gds.uk.com

Global Design Solutions (GDS) has been awarded the PLASA 2008 Innovation Award for the MOBAL ProTester 19, a premium cable diagnostic tool. This is the second Innovation Award in two years for GDS. Over sixty-five products were put forward for the PLASA ‘08 awards, all of which were showcased in the PLASA Innovation Gallery.

GDS developed the MOBAL (Make Or Break And Load) digital Socapex tester to meet a market need in the entertainment industry for a comprehensive and automatic fault diagnosis and correction system. The product is compact, digital, splash proof and operates fully automatically; its OLED (organic LED) display provides the test results in symbols rather than words, making MOBAL a truly international product.

TMB are Global Distributors for the MOBAL ProTester 19 cable tester. Paul Hartley, TMB-UK’s GM, says, “Over the years we have seen Socapex testers come and go, but this fantastic new development is poised to become the industry standard.” Hartley adds, “It’s fully automatic; just attach the cable and it does all the work!”

This year’s awards were presented by Matthew Griffiths, PLASA CEO, against the backdrop of the PLASA central bar. The winners, of which there were seven silver & one gold, were chosen by a panel of independent judges from across the industry. Matthew Griffiths comments, “The PLASA Awards are the industry’s touchstone for creativity and innovation – the qualities on which our industry was founded and continues to thrive – and we are delighted to give real focus to the impressive range of new technologies coming to the market.”

GDS is a specialist manufacturer of technology-based products for the entertainment and associated industries, accolades include numerous awards for innovative and forward thinking products, including the PLASA ‘06 award for innovation for Blues System and the ABTT Lighting Product of the Year award for consecutive years for Blues System and MOBAL.

For more information visit the GDS website at www.gds.uk.com or TMB at www.tmb.com/products/ProTester19