White Light takes the stage at Cadogan Hall

Located in the heart of Chelsea, Cadogan Hall is an historic 950-seater concert hall, presenting a wide range of events and performances, from classical music to jazz to musical theatre. Its excellent acoustics and luxurious surroundings make it the first choice for some of the UK’s top orchestras, including the Hall’s resident orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, as well as a favourite London destination for international touring orchestras. It recently decided to upgrade its lighting set-up, in order to become more energy efficient as well as offer performances more options and flexibility. As such, they approached White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, who oversaw this significant investment.   

The upgrade of the existing rig was driven by the venue’s Head of Production, James Tapping. He explains: “Previously we had a ‘concert rig’ of ETC Source Four Pars and Source Four Profiles to provide an open white wash for classical concerts. Also in need of replacing were six legacy Stage Profile SVs which had been in place since the opening of the Hall nearly 20 years ago! (The other 12 Stage Profile SVs we had had previously been replaced with 11 Robe DL7S and 9 JB A12s a few years ago). For us, whilst the Source Four Pars and Profiles were bright, they also used a lot of energy and produced a lot of heat. Similarly, the Stage Profiles were simply approaching end-of-life and needed replacing. Alongside the energy efficient gains from LED fixtures, these new units would significantly reduce the number of times the rig had to be flown in to change blown lamps hence would hopefully reduce any health and safety factors”.  

 The fixtures that James and his team invested in also had to accommodate the unique space that is Cadogan Hall. He explains: “The incandescent rig was silent in operation, and so we would have to find LED units that would also be able to achieve this; given it’s a necessity for live performances. Similarly, the height of our rig is 12m so requires a tight beam to prevent unwanted spill; with our auditorium and stage having white walls which accentuate this issue. Similarly, given that the venue is a historic one, we needed fixtures that would reduce waste heat output to ensure better venue cooling in the warmer months”. 

With this in mind, James reached out to the WL Sales Team who conducted a range of on-site demos with fixtures that fulfilled their specific needs. James explains: “We have tried many LED units but ultimately it was the ETC Lustr X8s that offered us the required output, quiet operation and efficiency that we required. These replaced the older Source Four Units, with fresnel adaptors replacing the pars and XDLT profile lens tubes replacing the Profiles. These fixtures will provide the ‘concert wash’ we require at a high intensity yet with a quiet and cooler operation. We anticipate around a 60% energy saving with the bonus of added colour washes from the Lustr X8 engines; something we’re incredibly happy with. 

He continues: “We have replaced the 6 Stage Profile SV’s with Robe Esprites to finally eliminate halogen, discharge or incandescent lamps from our standard inventory. The Esprites were brighter, lighter, simpler, more energy efficient and had better colour mixing; especially compared to the legacy units that were high energy, heavy and had complex mechanical systems that were very fragile and required constant maintenance”. 

Alongside this, the venue also engaged WL’s Tech Service team to do a small Dimmer upgrade to allow for additional powering, as well as supply additional networking cable and accessories. 

The project is a great example of WL’s long-term relationship with its customers, given it was several years from the first conversation to the actual delivery of the fixtures! WL’s Antony Vine explains: “This was one of those investments where the venue really wanted to ensure they picked the correct products and we were happy to move at their pace and continue demoing products as and when they were released. Of course, Covid also delayed things but we were delighted when they ultimately found the fixtures that were right for them – and this was definitely worth the wait”. 

The new rig has now been installed in the venue and has already been used on a wide variety of concerts and performances. If you are looking to upgrade your lighting equipment, or simply wish to have a chat to a member of our team, then please call 020 8254 4840 or email info@SalesWL.com.  

 James concludes: “We are delighted with our new rig; as is everyone who visits the venue to use it. We were really grateful for WL’s guidance throughout and for supplying the exact fixtures we required”.  

Image © James Tapping.