Situated in the Pendry Hotel in the historic Gaslamp District of San Diego, where most of the establishments are sports bars or restaurants, the Oxford Social Club opened in February 2017. It rubs against the normal laid back, “flips flops and tank tops” beach crowd with a sophisticated lounge feel, as if you were turned back in time to the Roaring Twenties.
A Unique Venue
Known for its bottle service, finely dressed patrons and a living room atmosphere, the Oxford has two full bars, fine art on the walls, wood floors, high end furnishing and a large glass chandelier that is the character-piece of the venue. At the Oxford, there is no dance floor. Patrons are encouraged to dance in the walkways, on the couches and, of course, on the tables. With the Major League Baseball park and convention center located nearby, the Oxford has also attracted a lot of out-of-town and corporate clients from the likes of Comic Con and the San Diego Film Festival.
“We knew there was a high-end nightclub missing in the Gaslamp District,” says Pearce Cleaveland, marketing director of Clique Hospitality, the operators of the venue. “When we set out designing the Oxford Social Club, we wanted something to match the theme of the Pendry Hotel and the legacy of the Gaslamp District,” he adds. “People come to the Oxford to party in a completely different way than anywhere in the area. They get all dressed up, order bottle service, then dance on the tables all night long.”
A Distinctive Lighting Rig
Clique Hospitality wanted a special lightshow to be installed into the club. They needed the right lightshow to attract high-end clients and a great place for people to have fun without looking like a traditional nightclub.
“We were looking for something where the lighting could build up over the course of the night,” says Cleaveland. “We didn’t want a lot lighting flashing in people’s eyes, but we wanted the room filled with colored light. Plus, the lighting had to be versatile. We needed to serve different venue solutions — from a nightclub to live performances to corporate meetings. The lighting need to be changed on the fly.”
Clique Hospitality hired industry veterans John Lyons Systems to spec out the right lightshow for their unique space and needs. Because the Oxford had low ceilings and not a large support staff, John Lyons Systems chose compact LED fixtures from ADJ Lighting. “We choose ADJ’s compact LED moving heads because they had a small footprint, ideal brightness and color saturation and features that worked perfectly in the club,” says Richie Worboys, lighting designer at John Lyons Systems.
Lighting the Tables
Worboys used four of the ADJ Event Bar Pro fixtures down the middle of the large oval double-pane chandelier. Each fixture has four mini, yet independent, moving heads on them that help highlight the high rising tables that act as dance catwalks. Then he mounted ADJ Inno Pocket Z4s evenly between the two layers of chandeliers. The zooming features on the Inno Pocket Z4 hitting the glass chandelier produces a breathtaking glow that is the focal point of the entire club, while all the lighting inside the chandelier is hidden from view.
Worboys mounted four strategic clusters of ADJ moving heads and LED Pars in each of the corners so that the entire space in the long rectangular club could be lit from these fixtures. Light from these clusters of ADJ Focus Spot Twos and Inno Pocket Z4s moves around the room and fills every corner of the club.
“Just like the concept of sound, we evenly distributed light all around the room,” says Worboys. “Plus, the ADJ lighting we choose are fixtures I’ve worked with in the past. Not only did I need fixture that could perform in multiple scenarios, but I needed them to be reliable and nearly maintenance free, since there is not a large backroom staff at the Oxford.”
Installation Snapshot:
- Oxford Social Club, San Diego, CA
- Location: Pendry San Diego, 435 Fifth Ave., San Diego, CA 92101
- Operator: Clique Hospitality
- Dealer/Installer: John Lyons Systems
- Lighting Designers: Richie Worboys, Reza Farahmand
- ADJ Gear List: 64 ADJ Inno Pocket Z4, 32 ADJ Focus Spot Two, 4 ADJ Event Bar Pro, 4 ADJ 5P Hex, 2 Antari F-380 Fazers, 1 Elation Professional eNode8 Pro
- More Info: www.theoxfordsd.com, www.avalonsound.com, www.adj.com
