LONDON — The fixed lighting grid and rig for the old church of St. John in Smith Square were becoming almost as classical as the music performed at the English Baroque church near Westminster Abbey in London. The church had been using CCT Starlet 1.2K fresnels since the early 1980s. The church got a recent upgrade with gear from Robert Juliat.
Known as a venue for classical music ranging from choral performances to symphony orchestras to solo instrumental recitals, the church had planned to update its rig back in Aug. 2002. Roger Hennigan, technical sales manager for White Light, which is Robert Juliat’s U.K. dealer, met with the church’s LD, Mark Henderson at that time, and they planned for an installation with Strand Cantatas, but that idea was shelved when that gear went out of production.
In the meantime, Robert Juliat introduced its 1000W Lutin spotlight. Despite their lower wattage, the Lutins met all requirements for the new system at the church, with other benefits including maintenance, control, three lenses (PC, Pebble and Fresnel), Robert Juliat’s rotating barn door with individually rotating leaves and other features.
In total, 50 Lutins with Fresnel lenses and barn door attachments were installed at St John’s, Smith Square on a series of small lighting grids, each of which can be lowered with winches to allow access to the equipment at ground level.
Although they replaced 1,200-watt fixtures, “the 1K Lutin fresnels had an output that could cope with the long 10-meter throw distance and resulted in a rig that was brighter and better than the old scheme,” said Hennigan. “Not only do they have a superb build quality, they are compact, versatile and flexible which makes them perfect for rigging on the moveable overhead trusses. The individually rotating barn doors will also prove useful to mask any awkward angles created by the variable grid positions."
For more information, please visit www.robertjuliat.fr.
