The success of the projects shows that Black Light has the expertise to be involved in ground-breaking projects involving key decision makers in both government and education.
"The projects have been a great success and the schools are delighted with the equipment we installed," says Black Light's head of company development, Phil Haldane. Haldane explains that one of the key reasons for the project's success was that Black Light met with the end-users early on in the process. "We re-specified certain elements of the project in light of the feedback we received; this ensured that the schools got exactly what they needed."
Black Light's team worked with main contractor BAM construction coming in at multiple points during the build phase. The company's work involved specifying and installing stage lighting systems, audio systems, curtain systems and projection systems. The audio systems Black Light installed feature 5.1 surround sound capabilities so that they can be used as part of a cinema set-up.
At Lasswade the equipment was installed in the new school's theatre spaces and drama room; at Eastwood it was installed in the school's drama room and its large gym hall. The main work on the £400k projects took place between November 2012 and June 2013.
"The technology we used was all tried-and-tested, cost-effective equipment that has proved itself in terms of performance and reliability in other school installations," says Haldane. "To make the set-ups at Lasswade and Eastwood as flexible as possible, we installed all the lighting bars on winches. This will allow them to be raised out of harm's way and to be lowered to the floor. It will mean that pupils can attach lights without having to use ladders - avoiding unnecessary health and safety concerns."
(Jim Evans)
