Travel to northern Denmark and you’ll arrive at Aalborg, a delightful city with a dynamic cultural scene. At the heart of its cultural life is the Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center (AKKC), one of Scandinavia’s busiest entertainment and convention venues. Hosting concerts, theater, ballet, exhibitions, and conventions, it welcomes over half a million guests annually. After years of relying on traditional incandescent lighting, the venue decided to upgrade to a more versatile and energy-efficient LED system to better accommodate its diverse events. AKKC lighting technicians Jakob Krøyer and Thomas Nowakowski were instrumental in the search and eventual specification of a new LED lighting system for the venue’s main performance space, ultimately opting for Elation FUZE MAX PROFILE and the KL PROFILE FC luminaires.
Jakob explains the specific lighting requirements: “We needed an ellipsoidal fixture for static front lighting and a moving fixture that we could position to other parts of the stage. Efficient LED sources were essential, and the engines needed to deliver the same type of output. We also wanted lighting that could satisfy both theatre and rock ‘n’ roll lighting designers, so we had to find lights that could really do it all.”
Working with Jimmy Thinggaard Sørensen at LiteNordic, Scandinavia’s leading distribution company for dynamic lighting and Elation’s Danish partner, a shootout was arranged at the AKKC facility. “Jimmy was a frontrunner in arranging the shootout and was excited to show how Elation compared to other manufacturers,” said Jakob, adding that before the shootout they were leaning towards another lighting manufacturer. “We hung the Elation fixtures side by side with lights from some prominent manufacturers and saw that both the FUZE MAX PROFILE and the KL PROFILE FC outperformed the others in many areas. I admit we were a bit surprised, but we simply couldn’t ignore the results of the shootout.”
After testing for brightness, color mixing, and quiet operation, among other factors, the team selected 12 FUZE MAX PROFILE and 18 KL PROFILE FC to light the different niches that AKKC caters to. “For theatre, good framing, nice colors, and the ability to project gobos were important, while for rock concerts it’s more about output. For AV and television, it’s about quality of light, good CRI, and holding the color temperature. We needed all-round lights that could do well in all aspects, and we got them.”
Uniform front lighting was particularly important, and both models delivered with their high-quality RGBMA LED engines, providing consistent output. Maintaining color temperature during dimming was also a top priority. Jakob explains, “When dimming, some LED fixtures have a tendency to lose or slide in the color temperature. That was one of the most important tests for us. Especially on camera, you can’t afford to slide too much in the color temperature and some of the other manufacturers did that. The Elation held its color temperature the best.”
Jakob says that the new system has made workflows easier and more efficient, from having wider control over the color temperature to framing out parts of the stage or banners using the zoom and framing system. “And toss in a gobo and we have something more unique than we could have made before.” Another time saver – because the older fixtures were white light, they don’t have to use color frames and filters anymore.
Environmental responsibility is a key focus for AKKC, which is certified under DNV’s Sustainable Development Goals, and ISO 20121 for sustainable events. LEDs energy-saving benefits, along with its greater reliability, reduced maintenance, and lower cost of ownership, all played a role in the venue’s decision to replace the previous 2Kw profile fixtures.
“We are a front-runner in Denmark with the green initiative and for us, that is a big factor,” Jakob stated. “Our fixtures often run for 12-18 hours a day, so it’s a lot of power and energy. Before, we used up to 18 2Kw lights plus special fixtures on an event, but now we can use fewer lights—often half as many—and use much less energy.”
Installed this past summer, the new Elation lighting system, which serves both stage and decorative lighting needs, has already been used for a major union conference and one of Denmark’s largest political party congresses.
Further information from Elation: www.elationlighting.com
