Regent’s University is set in Regent’s Park Inner Circle in the heart of London.  The University campus was originally built for Bedford College which was founded in 1849 at nearby Bedford Square as the first higher education institution for women in the UK.  The 60s saw the admission of male graduates, in 1984 it became Regent’s College and in 2013 it became Regent’s University.

Clarity have had a relationship with the University spanning more than a decade.  For this project we were asked to upgrade the theatre lighting in their lecture theatre, Tuke Hall.  We recommended modifying their existing lighting system so that it could accommodate new LED white light which is the preferred type of lighting for a lecture theatre as well as some colour changing lanterns.

Utilising high brightness front of house lighting, something the hall did not have, now ensures those presenting can be clearly seen by the audience, whilst the fixtures above the stage provide the three-point lighting needed to ensure that when an event is being filmed, the cameras are able to obtain the best possible results.

Additionally, towards the rear of the stage we installed some coloured beam cyclorama lights, to provide an excellent coloured visual for the back wall.

The lanterns we installed were from the Chauvet range to give professional high quality LED lighting.  The package included a quantity of Fresnels, Profiles, Pars and Cyc washes.

Converting to LED offers many benefits, including a reduction in power usage of ~80-90% for the theatrical lighting system.  It also reduces the amount of heat on-stage for the presenters.  LED fixtures run cool enough to touch, making a drastic reduction in the heat generated.

We were able to reuse the University’s existing stage lighting bars but the sockets had to be replaced with 13amp non-dimmable power, and the cabling rewired/rerouted to accommodate LED colour changing lanterns.

Each lighting bar now has a DMX control socket.  DMX controlled equipment is “daisy chained”, as each product has an input and an output, so each bar can support a considerable number of fixtures, more than the number of sockets on the bar.

Two new short internally wired lighting bars were installed on the front of the balcony with six power sockets each to enable the University to grow their lighting inventory when needed.

A remote wall mounted control panel was installed on stage with a second one at the rear of the stage.  These panels allow simple static lighting “scenes” to be set at the touch of a button.  Several scenes can easily be set, allowing anyone to use the system with ease without needing to use the lighting desk – a simple button press will set the correct lighting levels for the event.  This is ideal for day-to-day use, by absolutely anyone!

We provided a ChamSys QuickQ20 lighting console for control of the dimmer and LED colour mixing features.  The console features a 9.7 inch touchscreen and is user friendly and affordable.  The console can automatically detect and patch RDM compliant fixtures and has in-built WiFi enabling remote connection to the free QuickQ app available on iOS, Android and Windows tablets and phones. Easily connect the app by simply scanning the QR code on the console display. 

The console has easy-to-understand buttons and faders, simple colour selection and intensity control tools, a large touch screen with zooming and scrolling at your fingertips, as well as a simple cue/chase system for playback.  Specifically aimed at the novice user, the QuickQ interface easily leads you through setup, programming and operation of the console.

The system can also be operated by an iPad, with the screen layout customised to the University’s requirements.  Several screen layouts can be included on the iPad.

New DMX distribution equipment was installed to distribute the DMX signal to the lighting bars.