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Robert Juliat Shines at St John's Smith Square
The historic old church of St John, Smith Square, a perfect example of English Baroque architecture situated near Westminster Abbey in London, is one of the UK's latest venues to benefit from Robert Juliat lighting equipment.
Now a long-standing and well-respected classical music venue, St John's, Smith Square plays host to an extremely varied programme of classical music throughout its concert season, ranging from choirs and symphony orchestras to solo instrumental recitals.
However, the existing fixed lighting grid and its rig of 25-year old CCT Starlet 1.2K Fresnels - installed as state of the art in the early 80s - has long been due an upgrade to accommodate the increasing demands put upon them by the expanding remit of performances.
It was August 2002 when Roger Hennigan, technical sales manager of Robert Juliat's exclusive UK dealer, White Light, first met with lighting designer Mark Henderson to discuss the redesigning of the lighting system. The original intention was to replace the old fresnels with Strand Cantatas but the idea was shelved when these went out of production.
In the meantime, Robert Juliat introduced its 1000W Lutin spotlight which turned out to be a perfect, lower wattage, solution. The Lutins met all the requirements the new system at St John, Smith Square demanded, providing a brighter solution than the 1200W alternative and being versatile, easy to maintain and easy to control.
The Robert Juliat Lutin has received much acclaim for its performance and its innovative features. These include a choice of three fast-change lenses (PC, Pebble and Fresnel) producing a multi-purpose unit which saves on both cost and storage space; Robert Juliat's unique rotating barndoor with individually rotating leaves to reach even the most awkward angles; external graduated scale marker for easy focusing with each type of lens; a unique Robert Juliat designed handle housing a connector for rapid cable change; an inner cable guide to prevent internal cables from becoming entangled; a smooth and fast beam setting from spot to flood, even when warm and direct access to lamp from large trapdoor in the top.
In total, 50 Lutins with Fresnel lenses and barndoor attachments were installed at St John's, Smith Square on a series of small lighting grids, each of which can be independently lowered with winches to allow easy access to the equipment at ground level.
"We chose the Robert Juliat Lutins because, despite replacing 1.2k fixtures, the 1k Lutin Fresnels had an output that could cope with the long 10m throw distance and resulted in a rig that was brighter and better than the old scheme," says Hennigan. "Not only do they have a superb build quality, they are compact, versatile and flexible which makes them perfect for rigging on the moveable overhead trusses. The individually rotating barndoors will also prove useful to mask any awkward angles created by the variable grid positions."
Photos: Joss Gamble, White Light
28th October 2008
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