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Futurelight Fuels CanDu’s Flagship
Futurelight fixtures provide the heavy artillery in a remarkable Bournemouth nightclub conversion which has provided CanDu Entertainment with its flagship venue.
‘Censo’ means ‘senses’ in Spanish — and the venue is certainly aptly named.
The former Berlins was given a near £1m makeover in preparation for a pre-Christmas opening. Various design themes were considered before architect/designers Carey Jones Interiors conceived a stunning first floor scheme with both mystical and North African overtones. Shisha pipe smoking areas adorn the tented Arabesque Lounge, while opposite they have borrowed inspiration from the Supper Club in Amsterdam with a series of giant beds. Facing each other on the other two axes are very distinct areas — the bordello-chic red velvet bar staring down the room at ‘The Gods’ — a raised, bookable VIP booth holding ten people. And in this theatre of the absurd actors blend inconspicuously to spice up the social interaction.
But the dominant feature is a giant, iconic fibre optic crucifix, suspended from the ceiling over the void below.
With white cotton mesh tented drapes, bed linen and circular scrim around the crucifix, Carey Jones knew that with judicious use of lighting they could transform the mood of the club on a nightly basis (and that includes a lot of naked candle lighting)!
The contract for sound and lighting was awarded to TMC Ltd (under the project management of Paul Smith and Mark Hatfield). While they diligently reconditioned some of the existing PA, sensitively augmenting it with new devices, they handed the lighting design to the experienced Graham Barron (head of DiFuzion, the UK importers of Futurelight).
Barron had already paved the way by introducing CanDu MD Tim Roberts to Futurelight product, and similarly convinced project manager Shaun Doyle (SDM) of the merits of the product.
With their influence and support for the brand, Graham Barron then prepared a design scheme for TMC based around multiples of big PSC-1200 scanners (one mounted in each of the first floor corners) and six PHW-250 moving head washlights, while downstairs over the dancefloor four XF-200 Moonflowers, four CY-250 rotating barrel effects and six Evo-5 effects projectors animate the dancefloor from the periphery.
The venue has its own astrological consultant, and the Futurelight scanners have an important role to play, since they project the 12 signs of the Zodiac onto the circular scrim — part of the mysticism that prevails in the club.
Graham Barron also acted as consultant on the decorative lighting — including the fibre optics for the 3D suspended crucifix — which is not covered by the Futurelight catalogue.
The result is two distinct worlds — a conventional, 1970’s-style, low-light discotheque downstairs linked by the immense cross to a bright, theatrical space upstairs — giving a combined capacity of 650.
The venue’s experienced manager Andy Chapman is delighted with the new venue — particularly the moving head washlights and 1200W scanners, which are pivotal to Censo’s success in their ability to respectively change the mood and project sharp-edged graphics.
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