Robe Shows Its Metal for VR Steel in Las Vegas

Lighting and set designer Tim Dunn from Gearhouse South Africa specified Robe Robin 600 LEDWash and PureWhite moving lights to illuminate VR Steel's new booth, that premiered at the recent Mine Expo International 2012 exhibition and trade fair at Las Vegas Convention Center.

Expo International is the mining industry's premier showcase for companies specializing in every facet of mining -- open pit, underground, processing and preparation, mine site development, exploration and surveying, smelting and refining, and reclamation. VR Steel is a manufacture of products for dragline mining.

Dunn took a brief from VR Steel's CEO John van Reenen and created an elegant new stand for the South African company which will tour to international mining expos worldwide over the next two years.

Dunn comments, "It was amazing to work on this project and for John to put his trust in me to design a stand that represented his vision for the future."

A set of four steel arches spanning a 6m x 6m central booth space (the whole booth was 20m x 20m in total) to form the stand's core architecture. The entire stand is self-standing with nothing flown or rigged from the roof, making the build process as straightforward and cost-effective as possible. The idea was also that it looks clean, contemporary, and appropriately industrial to reflect the nature and quality of VR Steel's business.

Lighting is essential to the aesthetics and finishing details of the design and carefully considered to further enhance the distinction and character of the booth. "The whole stand has to be multi-functional. It has to make a statement, have a presence, encourage people to look at the products and services on offer, and be easily identifiable in a frenetic and busy exhibition hall," explains Dunn.

Four custom towers are rigged at each corner of the stand outside of the arches to form the main lighting positions, which can be moved and fitted into different booth spaces as required. The sixteen Robes are rigged on these.

The lighting towers are counterweighted with links from the massive drag bucket chains of the excavation machinery that VR Steel manufactures -- which look cool and bring a product-related context into the booth design.

It is the first time that Dunn has used Robe fixtures for an exhibition stand design -- although he's specified them many times for concerts, live music shows, and special events.

The 16 Robe units -- four on each lighting tower in Las Vegas -- were 12 standard RGB LEDWash 600 and four PureWhite DL (daylight) fixtures. They highlighted and brightened all parts of the stand, its display walls and graphics, as well as the structural elements, plus VR Steel's butterfly logos -- a unique design conceived by Van Reenen -- which were integrated into the printed floor. The daylight PureWhites were a perfect complement to the steely environment.

Dunn says he chose Robe because he thinks they are by far the "smoothest and most solid" LED moving lights currently available.

Additionally, the VR Steel arches were internally lit with blue LEDs and there were also nine integral 5W blue down-lighters inbuilt into the stand.

Dunn took a team of five people with him from Gearhouse South Africa, set builders SDS and sales company DWR Distribution to build the stand from scratch in Las Vegas, all of it constructed from custom pieces. Robe helped source the fixtures.

The company says the stand caused a massive stir and was one of the most talked about and photographed of the exhibition.

VR Steel recently won the "Minister's Overall Excellence" category of 2012 Technology Top 100 (TT100) Awards -- South Africa's premier business excellence awards, celebrating the country's best innovators and drawing attention to the importance of developing excellence.

See Robe at PLASA Focus: Orlando, May 15-16.