Houben Souren and Elation renew the lighting of two MECC auditoriums

In the auditoriums of the Maastricht Exhibition and Conference Centre (MECC) have been installed 14 Fuze Profiles for front lighting and 16 colour ellipsoidal heads 5 Profile.

The rental and audiovisual production company Houben Souren has installed the luminaires Fuze Profile and Colour 5 Profile of Elation Professional in two auditoriums of the recently renovated Maastricht Exhibition and Conference Centre (Maastricht Exhibition and Convention Center – MECC) in the Netherlands.

Facility improvements, initiated in 2019, have included investment in new lighting equipment for two newly renovated auditoriums. Under the supervision of theatrical consultants Theater Advies and the MECC, Houben Souren won the tender and was awarded the contract to deliver and install the new equipment.

Tijs Verfurth, Chief Operating Officer of Houben Souren, contacted Bert Schmeits, Key Account Manager Elation Professional Benelux, to advise you on a suitable solution. “We were looking for a Led-based light that was silent, with framing option and a good mix of colors. The venue also needed an automated luminaire with a high IRC value., as congresses are often broadcast live and recorded on camera, so it is imprescidible that it will provide a good quality”.

Fuze Profile, with its 305W RGBMA Led motor and its high CRI, has a wide range of functions: two wheels of gobos and animation, total shutdown framing, zoom 7 at 42°, frost variable, prism and iris. In addition, features virtual color temperature manipulation and magenta/green adjustment, as well as CMY emulation. The output is more than 10.000 Lumens.

“Each auditorium had conventional lights of 1.000 and 2.000 W installed sometime in the decade of 1980, so this was a major update. With the mix of colors, the animation wheel and framing, there are many more possibilities with the Fuze Profile compared to a conventional profile light", adds Verfurth.

Two auditoriums in one

The auditoriums are located one behind the other and are unique in that a dividing wall can be retracted to combine the two rooms. (with the capacity to 1.100 and 600 people) in a large performance space for 1.700 Spectators. Each auditorium houses 14 Fuze Profiles for front lighting, while the Ellipsoidal Colour 5 Profile with 180W RGBAM Led motors and 26 Degrees, 8 by auditorium, provide light from positions located in the electrical system.

All lights are discreetly hidden in space, an aesthetic that could have had consequences for the lighting equipment. “As the space is built, it is very difficult to access the luminaires to focus them manually. It is necessary for someone to put on a harness and climb to the roof. With the Fuze Profile we can focus at all times from the lighting console, so it's much more efficient, and it is always possible to adapt to last-minute changes”, says Verfurth.

When talking about data distribution for the system, Tijs opted for the Netron RDM645 and EN4 of Obsidian Control Systems.

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