A steady stream of national and international stars has added Herning to their touring schedules. Seeking to support the wide variety of performances and special events, arena owners Messe Center Herning A/S (MCH) contacted Martin Professional Scandinavia about a new night-time lighting design.
"The whole idea was to create an arena of international status and capacity and MCH wanted a lighting scheme that would express this while creating a landmark for the entire region," states Anders Birch, sales manager at Martin Professional Scandinavia.
Designed by Danish architectural house Årstiderne Arkitekter, Jyske Bank BOXEN is an intriguing building in its own right with a geometrical shape (isosceles trapezoid) that tended to disappear after sundown. Working with head of venue development Thue Jensen at MCH, Martin Professional Scandinavia created an attention-grabbing lighting scheme which matched the design brief and included façade signage projection, LED strip lighting, and conspicuous sky tracker lighting.
Forgoing the more typical static sign, MCH chose to dynamically project the Jyske Bank BOXEN logo onto the arena's façade using a Martin Exterior 1200 Image Projector with customised gobo. The logo gobo, which can be animated and change colour if needed, was created with a distortion that fits precisely with the angle of projection.
The Exterior 1200 Image Projectors are controlled via a PC-based Martin M-PC controller and are RDM compatible for quick and remote system feedback.
Both the horizontal and vertical edges of the arena, 520m in total, are lined with LED strips in static white with customized reflectors (the reflectors were designed by Martin Professional's Design and Application department). Finally, in each corner of the arena's roof are 4kw Xenon sky trackers in static white that beckon guests on show day. The sky trackers are angled to follow the contour of the façade. The Jyske Bank Boxen logo is projected onto the façade each evening while the LED strips and sky tracker lighting is used when there is a concert or another event in the arena.
The lighting installation was completed in October and the client is reportedly happy with the result. "We have had a good relationship with MCH for a long time," Birch concludes, "and although the project was quite complex because of the various angles between the facades and the roof, we managed to supply an impressive installation that the customer will benefit from for years to come."
(Jim Evans)
