Bamboo Group, known worldwide for its trend-setting 100,000-square-foot nightclub in Bucharest, Romania, recently opened the doors to a 27,000-square-foot, 950-capacity nightclub in the space previously occupied by the Paris Theater in Miami Beach. (The capacity, limited by a layout dominated with VIP tables and couches, will expand when additional seating areas open with the second floor mezzanine and patio later this year.)
“We don’t have to bring ‘name’ DJs, because Bamboo is the name,” says Marius Mates, the club’s manager. Along with its own artistic performers and “white glove” service standards, the club features six-foot-high Buddha sculptures and a massive, 2.5-ton handmade Swarovski chandelier equipped with 440 dimmable lamps.
Design influences within the Art Deco space range from Asian to Eastern European, and the décor goes from classic to high-tech. Marble walls, velvet drapery, and gilded framing join more than 2,500 square feet of LED video, some of it moving or pivoting with motion-control. The DJ booth is also wrapped in LED and rigged to motors — it can glide seamlessly between two mirrored doors upstage, then be transported downstage to the thrust in a straight line.
New Looks, Used Gear
With so much illumination coming from the LED walls, the club’ opted against a massive lighting rig. And although Bamboo Group invested millions to give nightclub patrons a first-rate, original experience, most of the lighting and audio gear provided by pre-owned equipment distributor Solaris — “99.5 percent” — is second-hand.
“One splitter was new,” notes Steve Smith, sales manager for Atlanta-based Solaris, which provided the lighting and sound equipment for the club. “It came from a number of vendors that sell their used equipment on the Solaris website; it could have been used on tours, or for rentals, or for installations.”
A Unique Experience
The “unique” factor starts with the venue itself. The theater, designed by renowned architect Henry Hohauser, opened in 1946. It has been used as a theater, a cinema (including adult films) and as a photo studio (images for Madonna and U2 album covers were taken there). The venue had also been kept up for special events and was in good shape when Bamboo Group took over. Despite the massive influx of LED video technology, many of the venue’s unique architectural features have been preserved.
The main floor has three event spaces: the lobby, the grand foyer and the great room, which has additional seating next to the stage. There are two full-service bars.
After passing the red-carpeted entry and chandelier-lit foyer, guests proceed past a wide hallway with lush drapery and the two large-scale Buddha sculptures. The first bar is double-sided, with access to the second floor and restrooms. Stepping past the first bar, the large Swarovski chandelier comes into view. Imported from Europe in 15 pieces, it is blanketed with 440 dimmable lamps and suspended 25 feet from the ceiling. A six-sided truss surrounds the chandelier, supporting an ample assortment of lighting fixtures that get used to animate the crystals throughout the night. For daytime events that could range from conventions to weddings and dance rehearsals, 60 large skylights in the ceiling bathe the space in natural daylight.
Lighting
Solaris’ Smith started discussions with Bamboo technical director Sorin Gheorge in July 2011. The goal was to come up with a lighting and audio rig that would meet the venue’s needs — and to acquire the gear at a great price.
If the decision to open a new club with second-hand gear is a new twist, the Bamboo installation represented a new approach for Solaris as well. Smith says the company is now gearing up to support other large-scale installations, working with consultants in different parts of the country, and anticipates that such installations could soon become “the norm, rather than the exception.”
Solaris’ lighting package for the club included 18 Coemar Infinity ACL S fixtures (to infuse the room with pulsing energy); 12 JB LED A7 Zoom RGBs (to provide the stages with washes and focused color); and eight Studio Command 1200s (for added stage lighting). The RGB fixtures are placed high on both sides of the stage for the side fill looks and to give the room some symmetry.
“I couldn’t be happier with the fixture choices,” says Jay Giron from Eco Groove, the club’s lighting director, whose background includes tours with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Giron also credits the compact JB A7, not just for its “eco-friendly” qualities, but for its compact size. “I was able to install them on the stage columns without obstructing the sight lines.” He also commended the Coemar ACLs for their “punch and color,” and the HE 1200s for use with the venue’s live theatrical performances.
For control, Giron uses a Hog iPC from High End Systems — “a workhorse” — and is eagerly awaiting an iPad app for the desk. “We also installed 42 channels of digital dimming to handle stage blinders and all the theater chandeliers.”
Automation and Video
The DJ rig, situated in the center of the stage area, moves with a motion control system courtesy of Italy-based Dari Automation & Robotics. (In a later phase of development, the club’s owners will be installing additional catwalks and motors toward the rear of the club.)
In all, 19 LED P10 video walls cover 2,500 square feet of space. The main wall measures 40 by 50 feet, and an additional two 8-by-8-foot LED wall sections move up and down on curtain motors near the stage. The second-floor balcony is also lined with three 4-by-8-foot walls, and on the back of the balcony, there’s another 8-by-32-foot wall.
The main LED wall behind the DJ pedestal can start at a 90-degree angle and then pivot to horizontal, where it can serve as transport for dancers and other performers to make their grand entrances. Embedded blinder lights in the wall structure can be focused out toward the audience for additional attention-grabbing punch.
Bamboo uses a custom system to control the LED walls, with a DVI matrix switcher and a DVI distributor that provides guest video operators with the flexibility to patch into the system and map screens to their preferences. Control gear includes a video mixer, a video scaler and a Mac Pro running Resolume software with Akai APC 40 and APC 20 surface controllers. A second Mac Pro runs Resolume, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop and Avid software to meet the needs of the video designers and live event technicians using the gear. There’s also a PC tower with identical software plus ArKaos for clients more familiar with Windows-based platforms. The club also plans to stock up on its camera offerings for I-Mag.
A Smooth Install
Despite a multi-lingual language barrier — the architect was from Bucharest and the staging contractor was from Italy — Giron noted that the Bamboo Miami project ranks as “one of the smoothest audio visual and lighting installs Eco Groove has handled.”
With all those technological bases covered for visual control, those running the show at the venue are also well-equipped to meet the goals outlined by the club’s director of marketing, Luca Supina: to dazzle “even the most seasoned connoisseur” with a fusion of “decadent opulence, superior white-glove service” and “the latest innovations in technology.”
So will Bamboo’s dazzled, pampered patrons really care if most of the club’s first-rate lighting and audio technology is, in fact, second-hand? As long as it keeps working as intended, probably not.
