Theatre Royal, Controlled Canopy Lighting

This LED Single pixel controlled canopy lighting scheme, we believe, is possibly the first of its kind in the UK. Tech Ent Services and their supplier set about customising a product that could be integrated within the structure of the new canopy that has been installed at The Theatre Royal Stratford East.

A particular requirement to be met from the Theatres’ designer was to recapture the original style of lamp cover, which maintained the artistic integrity of the building as built in 1884.

Due to the scheme requiring a bespoke solution, a prototype was designed and manufactured which resulted in several months of site testing and an evaluation before a final solution was ready for manufacture in the UK.

Instructed under a JCT minor works contract as the specialist lighting subcontractor to the steel fabricator (main contractor), Tech Ent Services provided a bespoke design and build package.

Tech Ent Services worked with planning authorities, including English Heritage, with the projects architect from the London Borough of Newham and our client, the Main Contractor for approvals before receiving the final instruction.

The RGBW configuration LED nodes were specified to provide ease of mixing both primary and pastel colours. In addition, the dedicated white LED can be solely used on its own, rather than the constant use of all 3 (RGB) LED’s to achieve white and hence increases the life span of the scheme.

Reduced maintenance requirements, reliability and system integrity were all key considerations during the design phase. The lack of any screw type terminals within the canopy structure itself and the non-reliance of a single controller or PSU were established in order to preserve the whole scheme, should any fails occur in the future.

Taking into consideration all of the above, we were able to issue a five-year warranty.

As a cost saving feature, the house’s IT department supplied the PC used for the control application. This is remotely connected to our visualisation programming studio within our office for client support; however, the majority of programming is carried out by the theatres’ in-house lighting technicians.

Tech Ent Services can offer a complete design and build service for bespoke projects of this kind. Our services can work effectively with all interested parties to conclude a successful outcome.