EMEA & APAC AWARDS • THE AMERICAS AWARDS
The ethos of Club 88 is to support the vision of freedom and the will to promote, what they believe, to be interesting, challenging, innovative and creative.
The name Club 88 originated from the year 1988, the year that marked the beginning of the second ‘Summer of Love’, an iconic movement for the electronic music scene, in not just America, but all over the world.
The fast-paced nature of the nightclub meant that users didn’t have a quieter space to socialise and recharge, so Club 88 decided to expand, creating the lounge bar, which customers could utilise. The operators of the venue invited Architect, Whillyan Barros, to help design the space. “I was responsible for defining the types of lighting that would be best for the design – indirect light, decorative light and effect light. I also created the decorative elements to the doors of the dance floor,” Whillyan explained.
“We aimed to enhance the architectural elements of the historic building, using LED lighting to create atmosphere and effects for the set up.”
The nightclub is part of a historic building built in 1925, it was important for the owners to maintain as much of the history as possible, while also rescuing elements that were disintegrating.
“The lounge bar had indirect lighting that served both for the calmer and intense moments in the venue, which is a necessity for creating effects to transform the space on the second dancefloor. In fact, the quality emphasises the factors of the historic building, therefore creating countless options of scenes and effects,” Whillyan explained.
The dancefloor is an exact replica of the design on the doors – backlit acrylic with RGB LED strips. To complete the ceiling, six 200W beam moving heads with 5R lamps were used, accompanied by DMFE Dance 240 console and MADRIX software.
Club 88 turned to local supplier, Star Lighting, to provide the equipment needed to create the expansion and to allow Whillyan to turn his ideas into reality. The team were met with the brief that the set up was to merge the characteristics of a classic building, with LED technology and futurism, using colourful lights with dynamism.
“We offered several product options, for the doors and windows with vaults, we suggested the LED Wash Bar. We recommended this product due to the light power and the opening angle of the beam. We also opted for that because of the possibility to use various colour shades of RGB,” said Rosani from Star Lighting. “For the ceiling of Club 88, we suggested the moving head beam 200, we took into account the power of the lamp 5R. We suggested MADRIX for running the Pixel LED strips with 32 LEDs per metre, in order to create the best possible dynamic of the lights running through the nightclub.”
To create the various colour effects in the Lounge Bar, LED wash bar with 216 RGB 10mm power leads, opening angle of 35°, were used in the balcony doors of the façade. They have the ideal intensity to draw attention to the façade without overshadowing anyone inside the nightclub. RGB LED strips were used on the walls of the club, making the outline of the decorative elements in plaster; all controlled via DMX console Dance 240.
To control the Pixel LED strips on the ceiling, MADRIX 16 DMX universes were fitted. 200W beam moving heads with 5R lamp, have been installed due to the power and concentration of the light beam, which had a great effect on the dancefloor. Along with some LED RGB Spots, which is controlled by the Smart Control DMX console.
“We were briefed by the owners and Whillyan, who came directly to our showroom to familiarise themselves with the products and possibilities we offered for their project,” commented Rosani. “We tailored the products according to each specific need, and kept up with the project providing technical advice from the beginning of the creative process, through installation, until the training for the technician was completed, who would then control the lighting. Due to this consulting, we were able to understand the architect’s design and indicate the products with the ideal characteristics to reach the excellent final result.”
As Club 88 is a historic building, the venue wanted to pay homage to its heritage, the 88 number also represents the 88 keys of the grand piano.
“The biggest challenge was to install in such a historic building, where some types of interventions were not possible, and the alternative was to use out wireless DMX transmitter to transmit the signal,” Whillyan concluded.
With its brand new expansion, Club 88 show no signs of slowing down with their 2018 calendar already filling up – I have no doubt party-goers will, without a doubt, be utilising the Lounge Bar to fulfil their clubbing needs.
