Tag Archive: Managed Venues

1. National Gallery offers planners a new multi-purpose events space in partnership with White Light

   9 March 2021 09:51 Leave a Comment

   

   The National Gallery has added to its award-winning collection of events spaces, with the launch of The Trafalgar Room, formerly known as the National Dining Room. As one of the venue’s long-standing approved suppliers for events, technical solutions specialist White Light (WL) will provide the AV services, as part of an exclusive partnership.

   The first-floor space can host capacities ranging from 20 – 300 pax and offers a stunning panorama of Trafalgar Square and its historical monuments.  With an abundance of natural daylight, the versatility of this blank canvas setting offers planners numerous options for hosting a range of different event formats.

   

   As dedicated production partner for The Trafalgar Room, WL has designed a flexible technical production solution, drawing on over 20 years’ expertise as an accredited supplier to London’s most iconic venues. With a bespoke lighting, audio and video system tailored specifically to enhance the space, the basic package includes everything a conference and event organiser needs to maximise their event’s potential. The AV solution has also been designed to facilitate the seamless delivery of both hybrid and live events. All bookings are fully supported by WL’s onsite team of technical venue experts.

   In line with the National Gallery’s official Visit England certification as a COVID-secure venue, all measures required have been taken to enable The Trafalgar Room to facilitate a safe return for live meetings and events in the wake of the pandemic. To adapt to the new normal events world where digital delivery will play a crucial role, WL is fully equipped to support the full spectrum of clients’ digital requirements. This will enable planners to utilise the true potential of the new events space, the wider venue, and the widest audience.

   WL’s Senior Project Manager Jason Larcombe comments: “We are delighted to be adding The Trafalgar Room to our prestigious portfolio of in-house managed venues, which includes Central Hall Westminster and Illuminate at the Science Museum. Our extensive work in heritage venues for many years, combined with our vast inventory of the latest technology, make us uniquely placed to support the National Gallery in securing maximum ROI for their latest events space. We are excited to start delivering projects in the new venue, alongside our continued work as an approved supplier across the Gallery’s full and diverse range of event spaces.” The National Gallery’s Head of Hospitality & Events, Clare Arouche adds: “The National Gallery is very excited to be working alongside White Light to launch this new event space and enhance our AV/Production offer for meetings and events.  This blank canvas provides a light, airy and creative space for meetings and events set within The National Gallery, one of the most visited and best loved art galleries in the world offering event guests the opportunity to immerse themselves within this cultural institution.”

   To enquire about booking The Trafalgar Room please contact the National Gallery venue hire team:

   [email protected] +44 (0)20 7747 5931

2. Happy 1st birthday Illuminate!

   4 March 2020 16:36 Leave a Comment

   

   Back in December 2017, the Science Museum announced that after a 4 year planning project, they were gearing up to launch a brand-new, multi-purpose events venue to market. Following the Museum’s bold decision to re-purpose the old History of Medicine galleries, progressive new space Illuminate, so named after a public vote, finally opened in March 2019.

   Located on Levels 4 & 5 of the Museum, Illuminate is the first events space of its kind, dedicated solely to commercial hire, to be on offer within a unique visitor attraction. Following an extensive and rigorous tender process, we were over the moon to be chosen as the in-house technical production partner for Illuminate, alongside sole catering partner, Moving Venue.

   

   In its inaugural year, the venue has achieved multiple prestigious accolades, including the London Venue Awards ‘Best Venue with a View’ and a WL win at the AV Awards for ‘National Integrator of the Year’. Illuminate is also a ‘Venue of the Year’ finalist at the upcoming Event Production Awards.

   As we celebrate Illuminate’s 1^st birthday, we asked our Venue Sales Manager, Mark Sutcliffe, what it takes to equip a venue of this nature and what all clients require from the AV offering…

   • Flexibility in the system and its operational capabilities: events planning is always a fluid process, with many changes to agenda, content, guest list and even technical requirements still being made last minute, so the venue’s control system must be infinitely flexible. To achieve this, we installed a state-of-the-art Crestron NVX system across both Levels 4 and 5. Crestron’s digital matrix solution enables expert integration of all audio, video and lighting elements. This offers greater peace of mind for clients, as we can quickly and efficiently control the environment, or add additional equipment at very short notice, with the touch of a button.
   • White box versatility: the blank-canvas nature of Illuminate, further enhanced by its contrasting architectural theme of light and dark, means we can fulfil a very diverse range of event briefs. From a 400-capacity conference with LED video walls and fully branded stage backdrop, to creating a gym experience for Under Armor or a technological showcase in conjunction with the Design Week Awards, to name a recent few.
   • Enhanced branding: increasingly, clients are seeking eco-friendly branding opportunities to reflect their identity within the space. The LED wall positioned at Illuminate’s entrance and superior quality projectors and screens located permanently onsite, offer cost-effective digital alternatives to printed single-use vinyl’s and graphics.
   • Fully integrated system and in-house equipment inventory: this helps to keep costs down whenever clients need to add supplementary items on event day. With a significant inventory of equipment stocked permanently onsite, transport costs are reduced, achieving another big environmental tick. For smaller events, we can keep the footprint of the tech desk and control area to a bare minimum, maximising the floor space available for the event layout.  
   • Speedy set-ups and rapid room turnarounds: due to the extensive technical infrastructure in Illuminate, events can be installed much faster, minimising technician costs to the client for set-ups and turnarounds. We can also deliver back-to-back events cost-effectively and with ease, enabling Illuminate to host daytime into evening event transitions seamlessly.

   It has certainly been an exciting and hugely successful launch year for Illuminate, with a high-profile client base and diverse event case studies. We can’t wait to see what the next year holds in store for this multi-award winning venue!

3. White Light Gets Connected for New Smith Centre Venue at the Science Museum

   11 September 2019 09:31 Leave a Comment

   

   Following the overwhelming success of the Science Museum’s progressive new multi-function, dedicated events venue Illuminate launching earlier this year, the Museum has added yet another option to its burgeoning portfolio. The recently developed Smith Centre has been repurposed to offer four unique spaces available for exclusive daytime or evening hire. As Illuminate’s in-house technical production partner, White Light was called upon to install the AV infrastructure and equipment solutions throughout.

   Utilising the same state-of-the-art Crestron NVX series control system and Audinate Dante network built into Illuminate’s Levels 4 & 5, the Smith Centre is now operational as a fully connected venue. This means that clients can hire both venues simultaneously for events and broadcast live coverage of what is happening within each space, across the multiple rooms.

   

   This connectivity enables a range of uses, from presenter Green Rooms for guest speakers to watch the main event remotely, to conference breakout sessions where audio and video content can be sent instantaneously between the venues.

   Jonjo Glynn, Venues Director at White Light comments: “With Illuminate being such an innovative venue, it was crucial that the Smith Centre installation matched the technical capabilities of this. The Crestron NVX system allows for infinite flexibility, which is essential for meeting the bespoke needs of a broad range of clients.”

   

   Jodie Guilford, Business Development & Marketing Manager at the Science Museum adds: “Many of our clients are often looking for ways to extend the reach of their event content and increase their audience. The connection between our two newest venues means that they can achieve this all under our roof, with the ability to conduct large main plenary sessions and smaller breakouts simultaneously. This has significantly enhanced our events offer.”

   Illuminate is shortlisted in three categories for the forthcoming Event Technology Awards.

   Photos courtesy of Alex Paganelli