The XS Nightclub in Encore/Wynn, Las Vegas has completed a multi-million dollar production re-design with lighting design by Steve Lieberman of SJ Lighting. The lighting technology includes Platinum SBX, Platinum Spot 15R Pro, Protron LED Strobe, and Lumina Strips from Elation Professional.
XS is the top-grossing nightclub in the United Stated and has to update its interior and lighting design to compete in the Las Vegas nightclub scene.
Although the layout of the club has stayed the same, the renovation features all new lighting and a new fully immersive lighting design.
The entire dance floor lighting package was replaced and features added to the rest of the club that highlight and detail the architecture and design. “Over the dance floor we wanted something that was a hybrid fixture that could give us the functionality of a beam light and move us into a profile fixture as well,” said Lieberman. “The Platinum SBX has a really great output and up against the Clay Paky B-Eye’s we have, we needed something that could really keep up with it and punch through and the SBX fit the bill.”
Lieberman added: “In order to be efficient, we specified as much LED product in the club as possible.” The original 3K Xenon strobes over the dance floor were swapped for Elation Protron LED Strobes, saving on power while maintaining brightness levels. “For me, the best part of LED is the efficiency – less fans, less cooling, less power, less maintenance.”
The amount of lighting equipment in the venue has been increased by three or four times compared to what they previously had without having to put in twice as much service. “The power savings was huge which allowed us to consolidate fixtures by putting more lights on a single circuit,” Lieberman said. “For example, I can now put eight or 10 LED strobes on a 20 amp circuit whereas before I could put only one 3K Xenon strobe.”
The outdoor pool area is a huge revenue generator for the club, a powerful fixture was needed to compete with the ambient light of the pool and it was the Platinum SBX that was again chosen.
Also outside are Platinum Spot 15R Pro moving head fixtures in white housings, which are used for texturing and coverage out at the pool area, and blend in with the rest of the architecture. “I needed a fixture that was more of a traditional profile fixture with a wider beam angle than the SBX gives,” Lieberman explained. “I also needed something that was more appropriate color-wise as far as the aesthetic look of the fixture in white and Elation offers the 15R Pro in white off the shelf. So, at this beautiful pool bar I didn’t have to worry about hanging big, ugly, black moving lights.”
Located in the open doorway between the interior of the club and the outdoor pool area is a DJ booth with overhanging LED video screen. Lining the LED screen’s custom truss structure are LED-based Elation Lumina Strips used for warm white blinder or wash effects. “They have a really nice warm incandescent look,” Lieberman said, “so they actually look like real MR16s but you get all the benefits of an LED fixture and they look fantastic.”
