The site started out as a medieval infirmary in the 13th century when Ghent was one of the largest cities in Europe. It was recently, after years of construction, reopened as a music centre with four world-class concert stages. The process included plenty of challenges as the building was completely void of any technical infrastructure and there were severe restrictions on what could be done to the original structure.
LumenRadio's Belgian distributor AVL was given the task to design the lighting control system that not only would have a minimal impact of the historic building and be for the most part invisible to the public, but that also would have to meet new stringent standards for energy efficiency. Luc Buytaert, Technical Manager at AVL, found the solution in a comprehensive CRMX DMX/RDM distribution system, consisting of two transmitters and 12 receivers, which eliminated the need for any cabling that would require changes to the original structure.
"This spectacular project would not be possible with a traditional approach using cable. An historical and fragile environment like this presents a number of obstacles when time comes to design and install a new lighting system. LumenRadio's wireless CRMX technology was a critical part of our design concept as one of its many major advantages is flexibility; it becomes effortless to extend DMX/RDM signal distribution to places impractical or even impossible to reach with cables", states Luc Buytaert.
"The large number of high-profile concerts in this venue also demands a system that does not compromise on features, performance, and reliability. We know from experience that LumenRadio's CRMX systems deliver the best-of-class technology for wireless DMX/RDM and offers unique features such as Cognitive-Coexistence, Forward Error Correction, full DMX frame integrity, low 5ms latency, encryption, and extensive native support for RDM and all the Ethernet protocols commonly used in today's lighting systems."
(Jim Evans)
