J&J Event needed a versatile lighting system for Mirano that is equally at home supporting a wide range of club nights, theatrical performances, contemporary dance spectacles, and concerts. The design and the fixtures also needed to accentuate the Art Deco surroundings, not distract from them.
After working with the CHAUVET Professional team to make a selection of fixtures and comparing to competitor units, the final decision was made to purchase 56 CHAUVET Professional Rogue R2X Beam and 32 Rogue R2 Wash fixtures, as well as 87 COLORband PiX fixtures from CHAUVET DJ.
“On a creative level, what was interesting about this project was that we were tasked with creating a space that could support concerts, shows, and club nights,” said Paolo Nigro, CEO of J&J Event. “Our resulting versatile design enhances the value of the artists who perform there and guarantees a great atmosphere for the people who have high expectations of this historic venue.”
Providing the cornerstone of the design are a combination of 56 CHAUVET Professional Rogue R2X Beam and 32 Rogue R2 Wash fixtures hung from ceiling trussing. Thanks to the powerful output of the R2X Beam’s 231W Osram power source and the vivid, saturated colours of the R2 Wash, the J&J team was able to provide the venue’s lighting engineers with a spectrum of looks to program through the house’s ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console.
For several reasons, a further arrangement of 87 COLORband PiX fixtures from CHAUVET DJ were included in the lighting installation made by Inytium. For one, the pixel mappable fixtures allow a multitude of exciting effects to be created for the different artists performing within the venue, without adding much weight to the classic ceiling. What’s more, thanks to the decision to position the linear fixtures in square formations from the venue’s ceiling, the COLORband PiX units provide a refreshing modern visual juxtaposition to their Art Deco surroundings.
With the venue’s Art Deco interior largely unrenovated since the building’s inception in the 1930s, large portions of the ceiling had to be rebuilt and reinforced to accommodate trussing and other technical elements. Positioning the CHAUVET fixtures from the ceiling trussing, the J&J team was able to create a visual platform upon which a number of versatile looks could be created for a wide array of events.
“Although the CHAUVET fixtures certainly bring a contemporary twist into the Mirano, we were careful to ensure that they nevertheless work to reveal the beauty of the venue,” said Paolo. “With this arrangement, we’ve ensured that the soul of the club remains very much in tact – in the process securing the venue’s position as bastion of club culture in Brussels.”
The Mirano project is the perfect example of blending classic surroundings with modern technology. In this project, the result is much more than the simple sum of both elements. It creates a versatile venue that will continue to be a cornerstone of the city’s after dark culture for a club that’s been around since the big bands swung in the 1930s. The technical expertise and aesthetic eye that was needed to bring together old and new are unparalleled and deserve recognition. The club has long served as an example to many, stepping out of their comfort zone, taking out of the box decisions with an eye on the future, and the same approach was taken with this renovation. It tells other venues that creativity and originality, not budget, make the difference.
