Robe Has BEEN There Done That!

	"We wanted long linear runs of lights that reinforced the cube theme and accented the space clearly and with an elegant demarcation," de Vries explains. Photo: courtesy the SIR.TEEN Group

A team from Netherlands-based creative studio Live Legends headed by project director Serge Patist and lighting designers Thomas de Vries and Bas Knappers completed a bold and modern interior design and technical - set, video, lighting and audio -- scheme for the SIR.TEEN Group and their new Club BEEN, a brand-new venue and entertainment concept that has burst onto the highly competitive nightlife scene in Beijing, China.

The lighting design features over 250 Robe moving lights -- 144 Spikies and 76 Viva CMYs and six T1 Profiles.

Also engaged from the Live Legends side were Daan Oomen (creative director and principal designer), Stefan Peters (interior designer), Rik Schoutsen (video specialist), VFX Artists Jim de Brouwer, Robbert Lubken and Boudewijn de Kraaij, plus music producers Joos van Leeuwen and Maarten Bokma).

SIR.TEEN group likes to keep ahead of the constantly evolving curve of nightclub trends and Live Legends delivered a design with architecture and infrastructure based on a cool industrial look featuring plenty of square and cube shapes. They wanted to emulate physical elements like RSJs and concrete pillars with lines of lights that could intersect and create eye-catching Matrix-style effects with different beams and colors.

"We knew we needed small and powerful lights," elucidates de Vries, adding that Live Legends has used these for numerous club installations. "They are small, bright, the continuous rotation is ideal for club lightshows while the flower effect adds an extra layer of interest!" he commented.

Club BEEN has a video screen upstage of the DJ booth along the back wall, and a large, automated cube-shaped centrepiece rigged above the middle of the room also with a screen that folds down from the ceiling enclosing the DJ booth from the top as well -- encasing them in a cube!

The stage can be built in two different positions -- in front of the back wall or it can be moved more centrally in the room -- but the fold-down LED screen works similarly in both scenarios.

The building had previously been operated as a club but was completely stripped out to a shell and reimagined from scratch according to the client's brief for Club BEEN. The client wanted to present a clean and contemporary environment rather than the ostentatious and sometimes overpowering pre-COVID club designs that were popular in China.

de Vries and Knappers took a similar route for the lighting which was a collaboration. de Vries completed the drawings and visualisations while Knappers did most of the programming in the studio and on site in Beijing. They also created some special light and visual shows for the opening nights.

"We wanted long linear runs of lights that reinforced the cube theme and accented the space clearly and with an elegant demarcation," de Vries explains.

The main room is around 30m x 30m square with some adjacent VIP areas, plus different bars around the space.

Both Spikies and the Viva CMYs ticked the "compact" box and were a perfect fit for the BEEN aesthetic, the company says, where all the visual elements are connected to ensure consistent branding.

Spikies are rigged in horizontal and vertical rows on the roof beams and can shoot in all directions through the space, with a quantity at floor level and around the DJ book area onstage for contrast.

The Viva CMYs are primarily rigged on bars inside columns carved out from the concrete walls, with most of the fixture bodies hidden and only the front lenses visible, always in a line or a block shape in keeping with the cube theme.

"They provide bright spots and beams left and right that can fill the space effectively with movement and color," explains de Vries. The main room is primarily filled with tables and there is a small dancefloor.

For key lighting on the DJ and dancers, de Vries and Knappers specified six Robe T1 Profiles, and there are a variety of other lights involved in the installation, but Robe is a key brand and among the most noticeable fixtures.

Club BEEN has been popular since opening and all the signs so far are that it will be the trailblazing destination the owners envisioned. de Vries says, "We have been involved in several designs and installations in China now, and it's always a pleasure to work with our Chinese Partner SIR.TEEN Group who are dedicated to providing their visitor with the very best creative experiences, production values and excellent music."