Al Jazeera’s London studio has been fitted with a new version of Robe’s ROBIN LEDWash 800 PureWhite SW fixtures as specified by Manfred Ollie Olma of Cologne, Germany-based lighting and visual design practice, mo2 design.
The 600sqm studio, located on the 16th floor of ‘The Shard’, now features 80 Robe moving lights. It is divided into two elements, the News Studio and the News Room, which mo2 worked on simultaneously to ensure visual continuity.
Ollie and mo2 design project director Matthias Allhoffs’ brief was to install a scheme offering the highest quality broadcast lighting in terms of uniformity, colour spectrum and perfect lighting angles.
Due to the low ceiling height of the space, just 2.7m, the idea was that the lighting fixtures remained in shot and became a visible and distinctive part of the Veech Media-designed set.
Rather than choosing between tungsten/halogen, daylight or LED light sources, Robe’s SmartWhite LED option was chosen because of their warm and cold white outputs.
A new version of the ROBIN LEDWash 800 PureWhite SW was produced, complete with a rotating beam-shaper, which in combination with the zoom gives additional control over the beam. The fixture is the same expedient size as the ROBIN LEDWash 600 even though it’s an 800 fixture and is capable of keeping up with the studio’s 24-hour operation.
The other advantages offered by the Robe solution are the low maintenance requirements of the LED fixtures, the low heat output of the light source, and light output levels that can compensate for changing daylight conditions, including strong sunlight.
Allhoffs commented: “It was a big step for Al Jazeera to go with this new and multi-functional approach to lighting. But they were interested right from the start in embracing the new and different ideas we suggested, and soon as they went on air, they realised how well it is working for them”.
The lighting installation and integration was completed by Lichtforum Berlin GmbH who supplied the Robe fixtures to the project’s general contractor, Studio Hamburg. mo2 was supported throughout the project by Robe’s German distributors, LMP.
