As one of London’s most iconic venues, the Grade I listed Royal Albert Hall has an extraordinary past and rich history dating back over 150 years. Aiming to enrich people’s lives, this venue strives to inspire the next generation of artists and audiences by offering a welcoming, accessible and sustainable hub for inspiration. To uphold their high standards and provide the best possible experience for their visitors and guests, their lighting technology needs to continuously evolve in tandem with the needs of the venue.
As part of their continued preventative maintenance and upgrade program, Royal Albert Hall required an upgrade of their existing lighting, involving the replacement of their house and working light systems including dimmable fixtures and control systems. Having partnered with the venue for over a decade, White Light (WL) has become well versed in the complex layers and distinct features of this unique heritage building, so were able to work with consultants and the venue, to design and engineer a technical solution that perfectly aligned with the Hall’s requirements.
This multi-faceted project was completed in structured stages and strategically synchronised with the venue’s events programme to minimise impact on the daily running of the building. Prior to the installation, WL invested four months of extensive investigative works into dimmer and lamp options that would fit the existing infrastructure, also completing stringent testing of various viable lighting options. All existing cabling underwent rigorous testing, with all other elements of the electrical infrastructure being upgraded; including the working control systems, distribution boards, breakers and dimmers.
Lighting was replaced on all levels of the auditorium as well as in the audio reflectors in an earlier phase of the project, which, dramatically enhance the lighting of the auditorium floor. ETC ArcSystem was selected for auditorium lighting and ETC Arc lamps were used to replace the box front lighting, with ceramic bases customised to mimic the look of brass and match the interior detail. Not only renowned for their reliability and dimming curve, these trusted fixtures blend beautifully with fade to warm technology for flawlessly smooth and synchronised fade to and from zero.
Appearing in the distinct form of ornate half-moon shells, the heritage sconce lamp holders are a characteristic feature of the architectural design and embedded in the fabric of this building. Each lamp was refurbished with LED lights to create a stunning aura that stayed true to the original fittings and remained authentic to the notable look of this historic venue. Backstage, a bespoke system was installed with working white and blue lights with additional connectivity to the theatre’s emergency lighting. For ultimate dimming control, the sunDial quad dmx 1k is a DMX/RDM controlled mains dimmer uses trailing edge technology, which provides smooth results and exceptional performance even at very low intensities.
Due to the venue’s demanding events programme and operating schedule, it was imperative that the installation programme was adaptable and precisely coordinated with the timescales of this exceptionally busy working theatre. WL’s strong working relationship with the Technical Manager and Building Services Team helped to facilitate the specific timeframes needed to integrate each element of the project plan succinctly and adapt certain phases as appropriate.
The multi-purpose lighting is not only exemplary in its functional performance, but also suitably matches the theatre’s aesthetics as a decorative feature. Furthermore, utilising the latest in sustainable technology, WL worked collaboratively with the Royal Albert Hall, to integrate an advanced lighting solution that married harmoniously with the venue’s operational needs and complemented the stunning period features.
The overall appearance is far superior, and the lighting system is more reliable, consistent and offers superb dimming capabilities. This has improved the venue not only from an audience perspective, but also for the team working behind the scenes, due to the improved technical efficiency, serviceability and maintainability.