Opened in April 2014, Qzone is a new multi-purpose venue that functions as sports bar, café and music venue and even holds corporate meetings from time to time. The space, which originally started as a nightclub before being converted to a gaming room and now Qzone, is located just off the main Quil Ceda Creek Casino gaming floor. The client wanted to use the space to provide different options and events that appealed to customers in order to draw them onto the property.
Six months prior to opening, Agility was called in to design, build and install the high-tech lighting and video package and initially planned on a 6mm pixel pitch panel for the all-important centrepiece LED video screen. "Venues of this type are relying more and more on LED walls," states Agility's Rob Johnson, account manager on the project. "Because the LED screen in Qzone was to be the centrepiece of the room and be used for a variety of purposes, we were a bit concerned about the pixel pitch. We took a trip to the Elation headquarters in L.A. where we had the chance to compare the 6mm screen with the 4 mm and came away convinced the 4 mm EZ4 was the best choice for this install."
Installed directly behind a 20ft. wide by 13ft. deep stage used to host live music and assorted acts, as well as serve as the main presentation platform, is an 8ft. x 12ft. EZ4 LED screen, an eye-catching visual that's hard to miss from the venue's entrances. "It's the focal point of the room and looks great when you enter. It even looks good when you're close to it at the front of the stage," Rob states, who also names the EZ4's price point, easy assembly and versatility as factors in its choice. "The old club had a projector and screen but you can't use that type of technology when you have a performer or speaker on stage. The EZ4 is a real multipurpose screen for a multipurpose room and gives the venue a lot of options."
Installing the LED screen actually allowed Agility to go lighter on the rest of the lighting system, Rob says, who specified LED lighting for its many benefits including power savings and the fact that he wouldn't have to deal with the added cost and hassle of using dimmers. The Qzone lighting system includes Elation 135W Platinum Spot LED II colour and pattern changing moving heads, as well as EPAR Tri LED lights, both mounted on a Global Truss system that hangs over the dance floor and stage.
Rob chose the Platinum Spot LED II's, positioned on finger trusses over the dance floor, for their attractive price point and compact size, which fit in well with the room's size and short trim heights. "They actually make the room look bigger and taller," he says.
The EZ4 LED screen and LED lighting's versatility and reliability gets tested daily at Qzone with a host of bands, DJs, comedy acts, and other performers and events, not to mention the myriad of sports programming, keeping the system busy. Rob reports that the system has held up very well since being installed earlier in the year.
(Jim Evans)
