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Project Details
Llewellyn Hall at the Australian National University in Acton, Canberra, ACT, and is a heritage listed building and hailed as one of the finest concert hall venues in Australia – known for its great acoustics and more recently, a fabulous new Anolis auditorium lighting scheme which highlights its architecture and features with understated elegance.
The venue is currently managed by the Venues and Functions team of Campus Environment, ANU, with close operational links to the School of Music.
After winning a competitive tender, the initial specification and new lighting design were created by Eddie Galak, business development manager from Anolis Australian distributor, Jands, and completed in collaboration with theatre consultant, Micah Johnson of Melbourne based design consultants, Studio Entertech.
Over 150 Anolis LED fixtures are involved from the manufacturer’s Ambiane and Calumma ranges, and these replaced the old tungsten dimmed sources, resulting in freshening up the interior as well as be being more sustainable and cost-effective to run.
The upgrade was necessary as the previous auditorium lighting dated to the 1980s and was getting patchy and the worse for wear. And, apart from transitioning to LED, Micah also wanted to bring the possibility of having colour in the space for events and shows wanting that option.
“Good quality lighting was essential for this project with smooth and effective colour mixing and rendering, it didn’t just need brightness, but plenty of finesse” he explained.
Being heritage listed and with a lot of wooden features and red seating, they also wanted to match the warmth and tungsten vibe that the space was already comfortable with, and this is an area where Anolis product lines offer great latitude.
The overhead lighting is now covered with 16 x Anolis Ambiane XP56 RGBW recessed luminaires with 30-degree lenses and 36 x Ambiane XP56 tungsten dims also with 30-degree lenses, together with 32 x recessed Ambiane HP111 tungsten dims with 60-degree lenses.
The SP56s were chosen for their output which was needed to spread the lumens evenly across the auditorium space.
Twenty-four surface mounting Ambiane SP16 tungsten dims – the smallest luminaire in the Ambiane range and with the innovative additional Tilt feature – are the main the turret up lights, combined with 12 x Calumma XS SC RGBWs.
The ‘Juliet’ recesses are illuminated with 6 Calumma XS SCs and the rear ceiling of the balcony is grazed with 5 x RGBW Calumma M MCs and 8 x Calumma Ms, with 6 x recessed Ambiane RGBW SP16s utilised as part of the blue lighting system backstage.
Challenges included re-purposing as many existing roof holes and fixings as possible due the heritage listed status, with new holes being made only where completely necessary.
The existing spaces were adapted to fit the new Anolis fixtures with the help of some clever bracketry fabricated by ITE (Installation Theatrical Engineering) also based in Melbourne.
The Ambiane SP16 Surface Mount fixture with the 90-degree tilt was a request from Eddie to Anolis who responded by developing the product specially for this project. Now this model is in commercial production, but not before Eddie was impressed at the degree to which Anolis was prepared to customise the product to ensure they had the perfect light for their project.
For Micah, the most galvanising elements of the project were combining the need to match the heritage requirement ‘tungsten stye’ aesthetic, whilst simultaneously meeting the contemporary, practical and compliance needs,
The new lights had to work better and be brighter and more flexibly than the old system, yet without it being obvious there had been a major change. So, a change to modern efficient lighting without a dramatically visible shift in appearance, ensuring audiences still felt comfortable! This one was a bit of a psychological brain twister!
The new installation has dramatically improved the functionality of the venue, and the mood, ambience and style of lighting can be changed far quicker, easier and to a greater extent when needed than before.
A Paradgm controller is used for the house lighting which can also be integrated with the venue’s main stage lighting controllers, with touch panel remote access for everyday tweaking.
Micah commented that Anolis generally is a fixture he can “rely on for quality control, colour missing and output” and feels that another plus is the brand being a sister company to moving light manufacturer Robe lighting, which offers several excellent theatrical ranges.
He appreciates all the adaptability that comes with the myriad of different Anolis angles and throws with lenses, shrouds and other variants. “This is exactly what’s needed, especially when you are trying to emulate previous effects and styling made with totally different lights, but that can now be achieved and replicated with much better options”.
Related to this, he notes the great consistency in quality of light and colour of the two – and in fact all - Anolis ranges.
Studio Entertech also specified a new stage lighting system for Llewellyn Hall as part of the technical upgrade including dimming and wiring.
Llewellyn Hall has long standing associations with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Canberra Choral Society, and the National Capital Orchestra and regularly hosts touring shows, including by Musica Viva and the Australian Chamber Orchestra as well as performances by a diversity of high-profile international artists.
PhotoCredit: Louise Stickland
The venue is currently managed by the Venues and Functions team of Campus Environment, ANU, with close operational links to the School of Music.
After winning a competitive tender, the initial specification and new lighting design were created by Eddie Galak, business development manager from Anolis Australian distributor, Jands, and completed in collaboration with theatre consultant, Micah Johnson of Melbourne based design consultants, Studio Entertech.
Over 150 Anolis LED fixtures are involved from the manufacturer’s Ambiane and Calumma ranges, and these replaced the old tungsten dimmed sources, resulting in freshening up the interior as well as be being more sustainable and cost-effective to run.
The upgrade was necessary as the previous auditorium lighting dated to the 1980s and was getting patchy and the worse for wear. And, apart from transitioning to LED, Micah also wanted to bring the possibility of having colour in the space for events and shows wanting that option.
“Good quality lighting was essential for this project with smooth and effective colour mixing and rendering, it didn’t just need brightness, but plenty of finesse” he explained.
Being heritage listed and with a lot of wooden features and red seating, they also wanted to match the warmth and tungsten vibe that the space was already comfortable with, and this is an area where Anolis product lines offer great latitude.
The overhead lighting is now covered with 16 x Anolis Ambiane XP56 RGBW recessed luminaires with 30-degree lenses and 36 x Ambiane XP56 tungsten dims also with 30-degree lenses, together with 32 x recessed Ambiane HP111 tungsten dims with 60-degree lenses.
The SP56s were chosen for their output which was needed to spread the lumens evenly across the auditorium space.
Twenty-four surface mounting Ambiane SP16 tungsten dims – the smallest luminaire in the Ambiane range and with the innovative additional Tilt feature – are the main the turret up lights, combined with 12 x Calumma XS SC RGBWs.
The ‘Juliet’ recesses are illuminated with 6 Calumma XS SCs and the rear ceiling of the balcony is grazed with 5 x RGBW Calumma M MCs and 8 x Calumma Ms, with 6 x recessed Ambiane RGBW SP16s utilised as part of the blue lighting system backstage.
Challenges included re-purposing as many existing roof holes and fixings as possible due the heritage listed status, with new holes being made only where completely necessary.
The existing spaces were adapted to fit the new Anolis fixtures with the help of some clever bracketry fabricated by ITE (Installation Theatrical Engineering) also based in Melbourne.
The Ambiane SP16 Surface Mount fixture with the 90-degree tilt was a request from Eddie to Anolis who responded by developing the product specially for this project. Now this model is in commercial production, but not before Eddie was impressed at the degree to which Anolis was prepared to customise the product to ensure they had the perfect light for their project.
For Micah, the most galvanising elements of the project were combining the need to match the heritage requirement ‘tungsten stye’ aesthetic, whilst simultaneously meeting the contemporary, practical and compliance needs,
The new lights had to work better and be brighter and more flexibly than the old system, yet without it being obvious there had been a major change. So, a change to modern efficient lighting without a dramatically visible shift in appearance, ensuring audiences still felt comfortable! This one was a bit of a psychological brain twister!
The new installation has dramatically improved the functionality of the venue, and the mood, ambience and style of lighting can be changed far quicker, easier and to a greater extent when needed than before.
A Paradgm controller is used for the house lighting which can also be integrated with the venue’s main stage lighting controllers, with touch panel remote access for everyday tweaking.
Micah commented that Anolis generally is a fixture he can “rely on for quality control, colour missing and output” and feels that another plus is the brand being a sister company to moving light manufacturer Robe lighting, which offers several excellent theatrical ranges.
He appreciates all the adaptability that comes with the myriad of different Anolis angles and throws with lenses, shrouds and other variants. “This is exactly what’s needed, especially when you are trying to emulate previous effects and styling made with totally different lights, but that can now be achieved and replicated with much better options”.
Related to this, he notes the great consistency in quality of light and colour of the two – and in fact all - Anolis ranges.
Studio Entertech also specified a new stage lighting system for Llewellyn Hall as part of the technical upgrade including dimming and wiring.
Llewellyn Hall has long standing associations with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Canberra Choral Society, and the National Capital Orchestra and regularly hosts touring shows, including by Musica Viva and the Australian Chamber Orchestra as well as performances by a diversity of high-profile international artists.
PhotoCredit: Louise Stickland
