ADB LIGHTS BEIJING’S NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS


ADB LIGHTS BEIJING’S NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

BEIJING – ADB Lighting consoles, dimmers and fixtures are among the stars of the spectacular new National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing.

The new building, designed by Paul Andreu with ADP and BIAD, houses the centrepiece 2,416-seat Opera House, dedicated to staging the largest and most complex Chinese and international operas and dance dramas, as well as a concert hall and two theatres.

Opened just a few months ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the building’s titanium and glass ellipsoid shell seems to float like an egg on a crystal clear lake – as iconic as the Bird’s Nest stadium.

ADB was selected for the project 10 years ago, during the first design phase under architects ADP. Technical consultant Stefano Pace – whose references include technical director at both the Paris Opera House and Opera Bastille – worked with the ADB team, Bingo Tso of Hong Kong-based Advanced Communication Equipment Co Ltd (ACE), Bob Peil and Brenda Dunsire of UK-based installation project specialists LSI Projects, and theatre consultant Michel Rioualec.

Two ADB PHOENIX consoles were specified, with the second desk able to be used either as a backup or simultaneously on the largest productions.

14 ADB EURODIM 3 thyristor dimmer cabinets are digitally networked with Professional network equipment, providing over 2,000 dimmer channels, in addition to the moving lights’ automation control parameter channels.

The fixture list includes 94 ADB WARP/M Motorised spotlights (all with WARP Colour Changers), over 100 EUROPE 2kW zoom profile spotlights, 650 EUROPE 2kW prism convex spotlights, 410 EUROPE Fresnels and 324 ACP Cyclorama Lights.

Used for stage profile and front lights, the WARP was specified for three principle reasons - its silent, fan-less operation; its greater operational flexibility than a comparably bright fixed lamp; and its excellent colour temperature accuracy.

Before the NCPA was completed, ADB stage lighting had already been installed at the Shanghai Opera House and the Oriental Arts Centre (OAC), also in Shanghai. The OAC provided an important reference as a similar application in a similar building.

The technical team and the NCPA’s management team also visited numerous other ADB installations and its headquarters, with different groups of consultants and end users, and visited many other venues worldwide, before making their decision.

Although ACE’s office is close to the Opera House, Bingo Tso says the in-house technical team is “very well equipped with spare parts – it’s in really good hands. We provided seminars for the Opera House technicians on how to use the equipment, and now they are moving desks and luminaires between the three venues,” he continues. “It’s a very intensively used facility and they make full use of all the WARP’s features, including web-based monitoring of individual fixtures.”

As the NCPA required, this helps provide the rapid changeovers between different rehearsals and productions that are required.

“For example, when the London Ballet come in they use a lot of colour changers to create their looks, but some shows are much simpler, and Chinese performers in general tend to be a little easier in technical terms,” he says. “The NCPA wanted a combination of top-end European or American products, and it has achieved its goals spectacularly.”