The Royal Conservatory of Antwerp has upgraded its lighting infrastructure with a UNITY solution from LSC Control Systems, drawing on the experience of its partner facility – and one of Europe’s leading performing arts venues – De Singel.
Undertaking a full renovation of its Zwarte Zaal (Black Hall) – including new grid, cabling, patch racks, audio, data, video and lighting – led by main construction contractor Co-Ps, the Royal Conservatory insisted on quality, reliability and safety. To achieve this with new lighting infrastructure, they turned to De Singel, expert consultant Roadtech Services, and the technology of LSC Control Systems.
It was way back in 2018 that De Singel installed a UNITY system from LSC in its main auditorium. At the time, the busy venue was having difficulty dealing with large amounts of varying types of lights brought in by visiting companies. Lighting coordinator Lieven de Meyere recalls the need for a reliable system that could dim, switch and provide direct power when needed. He says, “There were large amounts of conventional tungsten lights, sometimes in combination with a truck load of intelligent lights. This resulted in us stacking more and more distribution boxes on our technical gallery.”
In addition to quality of performance and protection, Lieven outlines another key requirement: “As we host and produce a lot of performances involving music, silence and rise time were very important factors for us. The noise generated by the ventilation of the racks was crucial, as they are located in dimmer rooms adjacent to our technical galleries.”
The original LSC solution for De Singel’s Rode Zaal (Red Hall) was reached in consultation with Roadtech Services, a leading expert in entertainment lighting, dimming and control. Roadtech’s engineer Victor Anderssen recalls, “They tested the dimmers extensively and found that the almost complete absence of filament singing was very important to them. The sound technicians also wanted to be sure that the use of the dimmers overall added no interference to their infrastructure and network.”
After a thorough test of various products, UNITY among them, they were ready to make their objective choice. They specified five 96-way racks of UNITY, LSC’s high-performance dimming and power switching solution, along with the added flexibility of a portable rack-mounted module of its highly configurable GEN VI dimming system. Further flexibility of control and monitoring was provided via LSC’s HOUSTON X software.
Fast-forward six years to the technical upgrade at the Royal Conservatory, and the decision was straightforward. With De Singel’s system performing flawlessly over the years, LSC’s technology has again been specified via Roadtech Services. Lieven explains, “Because De Singel and the Royal Conservatory share venues from time to time, I was invited to join the engineering team to give feedback on both their transition to LED lighting and for the renovation of their Zwarte Zaal.”
The Zwarte Zaal’s transition from tungsten to LED lighting is planned to occur in phases, with the first years following the renovation seeing the use of both tungsten and LED technologies, so the flexibility of LSC’s UNITY system – with its TruPower technology – was key.
“It’s an interesting time,” notes Roadtech’s Victor Anderssen, “because the need for dimmers is gradually running out, and safe power distribution is now very important for theatre technicians, but largely unknown – especially with earth leakage technology. It’s this transition, of still being able to dim but also switch, safely: LSC have some wonderful products for that.”
Says Lieven, “We find the easy configuration using the touchscreens of the processor, or via the HOUSTON X software, particularly useful. It also allows for an easy reset to our default settings at the end of a production.”
And the plus points do not end there: he also mentions the automatic power control, individual RCBOs, easy maintenance and inspection, automatic configuration of the dimmer module and, for backup, the ability to run the system over Ethernet or wired DMX.
Returning to the Royal Conservatory’s needs, he says, “Their infrastructure manager insisted on quality and reliability for both the technical grid and the dimmer installation. The fact that we could share our spare processor and module, as well as our knowledge, was a big help too – as was my earlier introduction to Roadtech Services, who had serviced their old, ageing dimmer installation, and who they trusted completely.”
In addition, Lieven notes that the added safety features offered by LSC’s technology was of the utmost importance for the venue, as its shows are always created for, and by, their students.
The Royal Conservatory’s new system includes two UNITY installation racks (UIRs) – a 48-way and a 72-way – both fitted with UDM (dimmer/switch) modules and controlled by DMX (including Art-Net/sACN). After the first weeks of operation, it seems the venue’s technical team is well satisfied that LSC’s UNITY will meet their needs and guarantee the safe and efficient operation of its technical systems well into the future.
