The 3,723-seat Grand Amphitheatre at Paris Convention Centre, a premium multi-space venue staging a diverse range of national and international events and entertainment, recently converted its auditorium lighting to Anolis LED with the installation of nearly 400 x Anolis Ambiane range lighting fixtures – improving energy efficiency and reducing power consumption for the lighting by 300%.
The previous PAR 56 500W halogen lighting fixtures had been in residence since the venue’s inauguration in 1974, and this new installation is part of a renovation process initially launched in 2020. It has been co-ordinated by venue operator Viparis in conjunction with French lighting design agency, Lyum.
Installed by Eiffage Énergie Systèmes, the Ambiane fixtures are fitted with assorted beam angles and other accessories like louvres for precision shaping of the output, tailoring it exactly to the room requirements.
The uneven ceiling topography meant heights ranged from 3 to 18 metres. Another requirement was to find light sources with the exact same diameters as the old PAR 56 and PAR 30s to avoid having to make any new holes for rigging.
The stalls’ seating area is covered by 92 x 150W Ambiane XP56s with 20° recessed lenses. The aisles between the stage and the first level are lit with 32 x 150W Ambiane XP56 fixtures with recessed 20° lenses and 5° louvres; while the aisles on level 1 from house right to house left have 46 x 75W Ambiane HP111s with recessed, 60° lenses.
One hundred and twelve 150W Ambiane XP56s with recessed 45° lenses deal with the seats above the first level, and for the aisles between the first and second levels, 72 x 150W Ambiane XP56s with recessed 20°s are installed. The back rows of seats are lit with 42 x 75W Ambiane HP111s with 60° lenses.
“Having the Anolis luminaires meant we could choose the exact colour we wanted, and it was very precise!’ noted Lyum lighting designer Sylvain Bigot. “Furthermore, they offered smooth and completely linear dimming from 0 to 5% and even at 2%, you see a little glow. To be able to achieve that with an LED source, it’s just beautiful!”
A Pharos LPCX system – comprising 10 DMX universes – manages the room’s lighting running on the venue’s existing fibre network with 5,120 DMX channels dedicated to the auditorium’s ceiling lighting.
