PWL also engaged in a consultancy role for the stage lighting specification and installation, and has a relationship with the park and its operators, The Plopsa Group, that dates back over a decade to when the Park was first opened in 2000.
The striking Plopsa Theatre foyer which occupies 13,000sq.m with over 12m of headroom is also used as a multi-purpose event space to accommodate anything from gala dinners to special presentations.
This expansive open area required lighting that was as flexible as possible to facilitate a myriad of different activities and uses.
For this, Luc Peumans and his team from PWL devised eight giant crystal chandeliers, which take on a scenic as well as a functional role in the space.
They are each 3m tall and flown in the ceiling. They were co-designed by Luc Peumans and manufactured in China to their spec, each containing over 100 incandescent bulbs.
Also inbuilt into the celling of the foyer are 64 RGB LED down-lighters to complement the warm glow and shimmering effects emanating from the chandeliers. Both types of foyer mood lighting have been a hit with guests attending evening events and gala occasions.
In the theatre auditorium the PWL team specified a fully LED solution using around 90 Compact PAR Tri 7 fixtures from Dutch manufacturer, Showtec.
The auditorium stair treads are also all fitted with LED 'nose' strips as part of the creative lighting - primarily for safety - but these also happen to look very cool!
For additional magic, PWL decided to wrap the entire theatre auditorium walls in a ShowLed Classic starcloth.
For control, a Pharos TPC (touch panel control) system was chosen with a DALI interface to enable the conventional lighting in the foyer - 60 Iguzzinni LED down lighters - to be integrated with the chandeliers and ceiling LED fixtures
Using Luminex ArtNet-DMX nodes for data merging, all the auditorium audience lighting - including the star cloth surround - can be controlled via the main stage / show lighting grandMA console if desired. This was the most straightforward way of incorporating that particular control option for the auditorium lighting and starcloth.
(Jim Evans)
