Respected lighting consultant and designer Denis Hutchinson specified Philips Selecon Acclaim Axial Zoom Spots, Acclaim 650W Fresnels and Hui Cyc 1 A 500W Symmetrical floods along with Philips Strand 200 Plus 24/48 Lighting Control Desk and Monitor plus a number of six Pack 6/10 Amp Dimmer Packs for the co-educational Herron Bridge College.
Supplied by South African Philips partner DWR Distribution, Selecon and Strand Lighting made up the bulk of the order: "An essential part of the brief was to deliver a lighting system that is easy to understand and operate," explains Hutchinson. "However it also needed to feature a creative capability that surpasses regular school lighting."
Drawing on his experience as one of South Africa's top lighting designers, Hutchinson researched a number of similar projects before making his choice: "I chose the Acclaim Zoomspot and Fresnels because they are high performance, versatile, lightweight workhorses, ideal for a studio theatre or school rig. Features such as the cool beam technology ensure that gels and accessories last that little bit longer thus reducing the need to work at height, which can so often be an issue in school theatres."
Duncan Reilly, managing director for DWR adds: "The Hui Cyc lights are also great little workhorses for schools and small studios where there is limited space. They deliver visually even washes with no distracting spill. In addition the rapid airflow design means heat is quickly dissipated again maximising the life of colour filters. This combined with the fact that the colour frame is held away from the luminaire body further increases the life of the filter."
Unusually for a lighting installation, this contract also included having the rig focussed. "Sadly many school installations tend to feature lights that are so badly focussed they might as well be off," points out Hutchinson. "A big thank you to all the DWR staff, who did a superb job focusing the rig."
(Claire Beeson)
