Anolis at the Tabu Lounge, Budapest

 

Budapest’s latest fashionable night hotspot features a substantial Anolis LED installation and Robe moving lights on the dancefloor, which have been supplied directly to the club’s owners by locally-based lighting design and supply company Colossal.

The eye-catching interior was designed by Szabolcs Kövesi who also took an active interest in the LED lighting scheme, on which he worked with Colossal’s Csanadi Csaba. Csaba had been involved with the club since its early planning stages  and the bespoke LED design was optimised to suit the interior.

As soon as Kövesi saw the Anolis fixtures, he was impressed by their brightness, clarity and colour, and immediately envisioned how they could relate to the gold/brown décor that was integral to the look and style he had created for Tabu.

Twenty-two pieces of Anolis ArcLine RGB (a combination of  Arcline 12, 24 and 36 units) have been installed on the walls and in the bars to give the club a unique look and feel. Frosted glass is used throughout Tabu to maximise the brightness and washing potential of the lighting. The bars fronts all have special patterns which are spectacularly illuminated with the LED fixtures.

Eighteen ArcSource 6 RGBs have also been installed in the dancefloor area, picking out the columns and custom designed walls.

The toilets – often equally as important in terms of spaces as the actual clubs - also benefit from Anolis. The cubicle doors are all coloured by 23 ArcSource 6 RGBs mounted in between two layers of frosted glass which spreads the beams out down the length of the glass. Each cubicle can be coloured, and the default chase is continuously changing colours, creating a special atmosphere and a great talking point.

The LEDs are all run via 5 ArcPower 144 and 2 ArcPower 36 power supplies.

Tabu’s main dancefloor area was also recently upgraded, with new Robe moving lights replacing the previous ones (from another manufacturer). The headroom is extremely tight, so Csaba went for 8 of the compact Robe ClubSpot 160CTs, which are proving brighter than the original 250 units. The ClubSpot 160CTs are also proving fast, reliable and effective.

Colossal also recommended and supplied a Robe DMX 1024 controller which controls both the moving heads and the LED. Output 1 is used for the moving heads and 2 is designated to the LED fixtures. It was a challenge harmonizing both types of fixtures, but the RGB colouring offers yet more opportunities to combine and change moods throughout Tabu.

“With LEDs we can create really dynamic dancefloor looks for events and for parties,” says Csaba, adding “The DMX 1024 is perfect for clubs and discos -  it has a big control surface with lots of programmable buttons and two different DMX options”.

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