These days, it seems that nightclub concepts in general have a shelf life of no more than a few years — and the same holds true for gentlemen’s clubs. While the dancers may be the main attraction, club owners are willing to invest millions to update a major club’s atmosphere, décor and branding.
Such was the case for the former Broadway Showgirls club in San Francisco, a 15,000-square-foot club that underwent a five-month transformation to emerge in March 2012 as the Penthouse Club & Steakhouse, joining other clubs licensed by the adult magazine of the same name in Paris; Moscow; New York City and Niagara, NY; Philadelphia; Detroit; St. Louis, MO; Baton Rouge and New Orleans, LA; Denver, CO; and Tampa, FL.
David Chesal, who designed the lighting for a Penthouse-licensed club in Reno, NV (PLSN, June 2011, cover) worked with Joe Carouba of BSC Management (which owns the San Francisco club location), local architect Gary Henderson of Collins-Henderson Inc., installer Karl Kieslich from Sound Stage Systems and general contractor Ray Bdeir along with interior designer Stacey Lee of EntaLeis on the project.
“The owners of the nightclub chain in San Francisco were at the grand opening of the Penthouse Club in Reno,” says Chesal, who serves as entertainment & leisure segment manager for Robe US. “They saw the design and the overall level of finish and they wanted to elevate one of their clubs to the next level. They were impressed with what they saw and felt they needed to take it to the next level when they converted one of their clubs to a Penthouse Club, so they had commissioned me to spearhead the project.”
Strategic Accents
Since many of the furnishings and interior surfaces are neutral in color — metallic, white, gray or black — lighting plays a critical role in the overall visuals and vibe. It also plays an important role in one of the main design goals of the transformation — to create a visual connection between the club’s two levels via an opening in the floor that serves as a giant “keyhole” — tying in, conveniently, with the Penthouse “key” theme. While the hole linking both floor levels was the most significant structural change, nearly every other aspect of the club’s 15 sections had been transformed, refinished and strategically lit, from the exterior through the lobby, two full bars, a huge refrigerated display case for bottles of champagne, kitchen and food prep areas, dining booths, two stages, VIP areas and dancing areas for as many as 60 to 75 topless performers per night, who work alongside a staff of about 35 within the venue.
“Previously there was nothing but gilt conventional lighting for architectural lighting,” Chesal notes.
“We had converted all that incandescent lighting over to LED, and every facet of the club from the exterior, the entry, the lobby, the bar, the ultra lounge area, the main showroom, the newly created Tapas bar reception/chefs table, the private dance areas — every little part of this club was accentuated with LED lighting, right downto the champagn cooler.”
“Pardon Our Dust”
Calling the project as a whole an “extreme makeover,” Chesal notes that the stress factor wasn’t limited to the long list of upgrades needed within a tight time frame, but the need to transform the space while the seven-nights-per-week venue remained open to the public.
“As the club was closing [each day], the trades would come in, put up their partition walls or put down their plastic, whatever was necessary. They would dissect areas of the club at a time,” Chesal says. “‘Pardon our dust’ became a common expression,” Chesal continues. “The staff would come in one day, and the bar would be missing. They would come in the next day, and the new bar would be there.”
Beams and Projection
The lighting rig for the club’s main stage includes six Robe Robin 300 Plasma Spots, chosen for their flesh tone-friendly CRI of 94 and with 10,000 hours of lamp life. Five Robe LEDForce 18 RGBWs wash the stage, with upstage positions for four Robe Scan 250 XTs, seven LEDForce 7 RGBWs and an Austrian drape, lit with Anolis ArcLink Optic 4 RGBAs.
Control is split between the entertainment and architectural lighting systems, with Martin LightJockeys for each.
Adorning the main stage is a 16-foot-wide Austrian drape made of silver frazzle from Rose Brand with motor controls by Automatic Devices. “The fabric picks up from the bottom and couples itself and goes up; it doesn’t open side to side,” says Chesal. “It’s a die-cut fabric that allows light to pass through from behind, so you can do some very dramatic layered lighting effects from behind, silhouetting the girls,” he adds.
Another distinctive touch for the main stage is a metal-bead curtain — “an excellent projection surface” — for the upstage wall, with two Robe DigitalSpot 3500 DTs providing the imagery there. Chesal also uses these fixtures for visual “room decoration” elsewhere, including a lattice feature wall, the chef’s table and the club’s “tapas bar” area.
An Invitation Upstairs
The refrigerated glass display case stocked with a reported $250,000 in champagne makes a big impression, working with the floor opening to invite patrons to ascend the stairs to the VIP areas on the club’s upper level. The double-sided glass case is lit with Anolis ArcLine Optic 24 smart white fixtures, which allow for “a combination of cool white and warm white” light that lets the club “dial in the exact color temperature,” Chesal says.
Strategic lighting also brings attention to new décor features including bubble poles, private dance booths, the bachelors stage, private dance floor, VIP area ramps and bathrooms. “No part of the club was untouched,” Chesal notes.
Gear
2 Martin LightJockey controllers
6 Robe Robin 300 Plasma Spots
2 Robe DigitalSpot 3500DTs
7 Robe LEDForce 7 RGBW 25°
4 Robe LEDForce 18 RGBW 25°
2 Robe LEDForce 18 RGBW 25°
4 Robe Scan 250 XTs
15 StageQube 324 LED panels
5 ArcLink Optic 4 RGBA 25°x6°
14 ArcLink Optic 3 RGB 25°x6°
24 ArcLink 3 RGB
5 ArcPar 3 RGB 38° White
10 ArcPad 48 Integral RGBCW 25°
8 ArcLine Optic 36 RGB, 6°
1 ArcLine Optic 36 SW, 38°
8 ArcLine Optic 24 SW, 25°x6°
7 ArcLine 20 MC
3 ArcSource Twin Wall 3 RGB, 25°
5 ArcSource 24 MC, 24°
1 ArcSource 12 CW, 25°
11 ArcSource 7 CW, 25°
12 ArcSource 6 RGB, 6°
3 ArcSource 6 WW, 25°
38 ArcSource 4 MC, 29°
38 ArcSource 4 MC, 16°
15 ArcSource 3 RGB, 25°
1 ArcSource 3 RGB, 15°
12 ArcSource 1 CW SuperWide
6 ArcSource 1 CoolWhite 10°
6 downlights housing AR111
7 ArcControl 128
9 ArcPower 384 units
7 ArcPower 36 units
1 ArcPower SmartWhite 144 Silver
1 ArcPower 48MC Silver
1 ArcPower 4×48 Silver
1 ArcPower16x6 Silver
More images at www.plsn.me/PenthouseSFExtras
