De Doelen Theatre Rotterdam


De Doelen Theatre Rotterdam

ADB Lighting is at the heart of a multimillion euro refurbishment completed in Spring 2010 of the De Doelen Theatre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, home of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

ADB’s distributor for the Netherlands, Controllux, was responsible for the installation, which includes a total of 36 Motorised WARP units and a large number of Neithammer Zoom profiles and C203 PC lights.

In 2009 a major rebuild began, to remove asbestos from the ceiling of the 2,200-seat auditorium, which opened in 1966. At the same time, De Doelen’s management decided to upgrade technical production facilities and refurbish and enlarge the auditorium, while retaining its original character.

Additions include a suspended technical ceiling, and 26 shuttered panels set into the ceiling, which hide a total of 70 ADB luminaires, including a dozen WARP/M zoom spot profiles.

Frank van Donkersgoed, De Doelen Technical Manager, says: “The WARP/M was  the first moving fixture we discovered that was pretty much silent, and for use in a concert hall that’s one of the most important features. We bought four three years ago to do some experimenting and decided to purchase a lot more.” The fixtures allow precise and inaudible adjustments to orchestral lighting prior to each show.

Controllux installed 30 Motorised WARP/M 800w Zoom and six Motorised WARP/M 575w Daylight Zoom units, with 62 ADB Niethammer HPZ211X 2kW Zoom Profiles and 54 C203 2kW PCs.

Many are hidden behind either the ceiling shutters, or automated wall panels. The rack rooms house a total of three EURODIM Twin Tech dimmers, combining traditional thyristor and sine wave dimming, lowering stage noise still further. 488 channels of dimming in all service the auditorium.

“The end result,” says Kuno van Velzen of Controllux, “is that orchestra changes can be accommodated and re-lit very quickly. You also have much more flexibility with focusing thanks to the automated zoom profiles.”

Frank van Donkersgoed is delighted with the outcome. “We’re very happy with the end result,” he says. “Not only happy; we’re actually pretty proud of what we did in a hall that still has the character that it’s had for 40 years. It’s still essentially the same hall, but much improved, and the reactions from our visitors has been very positive.”