Clay Paky Fixtures and Wireless Solution's W-DMX Acquired for Washington, D.C.'s Reagan Building and ITC

Projection Presentation Technology has invested in a complement of Clay Paky fixtures and Wireless Solution's W-DMX for Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. A.C.T Lighting is the North American distributor for both Clay Paky and Wireless Solution Sweden AB.

Headquartered in Springfield, Virginia, Projection is one of the largest independently-owned AV firms providing technical support to associations and corporations nationwide. It also furnishes in-house AV management to a large number of facilities across the U.S., in addition to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, which houses federal, state and regional entities (including the EPA,USAID, customs and border protection), as well as international trade-related businesses and services; it also serves as a premier conference and event venue.

Projection purchased Clay Paky Alpha Profile 700 fixtures and Alpha Profile 1500s for the Reagan Building. The 700s are dedicated to the amphitheatre, supporting conventional fixtures in the traditional theatre-style space.

"We needed fixtures that offered flexibility, that could move, shutter, and have color correction -- that was critical," says lighting engineer Scott Wasserberg. "We'll use them to light the podium and performances, to provide additional lighting when we need it and to highlight the numerous color guard ceremonies we do here. Of all the fixtures we looked at, only the Alpha Profile 700s had the reliability we needed." The Alpha Profile 1500s are deployed in the atrium, a large space with a 110' ceiling, which can host dinners for 850 people. "They replace conventional fixtures from the back of the house," says Wasserberg, "to handle podium and stage wash. They can also do double duty by bringing the focus closer to the podium. Since they're movers they can perform more than one function."

Wasserberg reports that the 1500s offer "enough punch for cameras to pick up what's on stage. They also allow us to do a little more ambience lighting for the audience, which is something we've been wanting to add, and to highlight the audience."

Given the atrium's size and high ceiling, Wasserberg had been forced to hang a second layer of conventional fixtures. "But, with the Clay Pakys, I can make changes in looks quickly. I really wanted to go with only one lighting manufacturer and fortunately Clay Paky had what I needed for both rooms." Prior to acquiring the W-DMX, Wasserberg was unfamiliar with the product from Wireless Solution, billed as the only company to offer dual-band 2.4 and 5.8GHz with RDM and adaptive frequency hopping in both OEM single PCB or standard transceivers with FLEX function to change a unit to be both transmitter and receiver.

"We got an additional receiver box because it had been determined that adding another unit was critical to meeting our changing needs," Wasserberg explains. "It will be used in the Amphitheater and the Atrium as well as other spaces: The Atrium requires uplighting and ambience lighting at its far sides, while I sometimes have to add backlighting to the stage and other areas. It will help us meet all those needs while minimizing the amount of wires."