Located in Taaastrup, a suburb of the Danish capital city, Copenhagen, CITY2 is a large shopping destination that also incorporates an ice-skating rink and nine-screen movie theater. Originally opened in 1975, it was one of the first modern shopping centers in Europe, inspired by the popularity of the ‘everything under one roof’ malls of the United States. Despite its long history, CITY2 is continuously being updated and renovated, with the latest of these projects involving the installation of a lighting system to provide the center’s management with the ability to easily select looks that will enhance special events and promotions.
The company responsible for designing and installing the new system, as well as supplying the ADJ fixtures, was SoundStoreXL, based in Aarhus. Established 11 years ago as an online retailer of sound, lighting and DJ equipment, the company quickly grew to become the largest in Denmark and now also sells into Norway, Sweden and Finland. Six years ago, Kim Birk joined SoundStoreXL as Sales Manager in order to establish a new installation division. Kim is a qualified electrician with more than 20 years of experience in the sound and lighting industry. Starting with small projects for shops, restaurants and nightclubs, this part of the business has now also grown to supply larger venues such as the CITY2 shopping center.
“When I met with the CITY2’s management,” explains Kim, “they told me that they wanted a system that would give them flexibility. They had a whole list of things they thought it would be cool to be able to do. For example, they wanted to be able to press a button and turn everything yellow, which is the color associated with sales in Denmark. They also wanted to be able to create a disco atmosphere on the ice rink for certain evening sessions as well as to highlight when a new film is premiering at the movie theater. I soon realized that the way to deliver everything they wanted was to use LED-powered moving heads.”
The first phase of the project was implemented in early 2020, when Kim and his team installed 12 of ADJ’s Vizi BSW 300 fixtures in a 3 x 4 matrix above the ice skating rink that sits in the middle of the mall’s atrium. Using the LightJockey DMX control software from ADJ’s sister company Elation Professional, Kim created ambient programs that run automatically for 10 hours each day. He then also setup a touch panel interface that allows the center’s staff to easily override the standard programming to highlight special events and promotions. Although these fixtures are predominantly used to light the ice rink, either with subtle slow-moving GOBO projections during the day or with high-energy movements and color changes for the disco skating sessions, they can also be used to highlight other areas of the center. While programming, Kim also discovered that pointing the fixtures up towards the building’s corrugated metal roof created a stunning effect that could completely transform the look of the whole atrium.
CITY2’s managers have been very impressed by both the power and versatility of the ADJ fixtures as well as their reliability. The Vizi BSW300 units have now been running for over a year – for at least 10 hours every day – without any problems. They are also very pleased with Kim’s programming, and the system he created to allow them to change the positioning and color scheme of the lighting at the touch of a button. In fact, the initial phase of the project proved so successful that the center’s management commissioned SoundStoreXL to expand the system with an addition 18 moving heads in January of this year.
Eighteen of ADJ’s new Focus Spot 6Z fixtures were installed above the walkways that surround the atrium and integrated into the LightJockey control system. This allowed for the ambient looks to be extended out from the central ice rink area across the whole mall, while also increasing the system’s potential to spotlight specific areas for special events or promotions.
Featuring a potent 300W cool white LED engine paired with a precision-engineered, high-quality optical system, the Focus Spot 6Z delivers extremely punchy output, allowing for sharp aerial effects and crisp GOBO projections. It also offers a diverse collection of beam-shaping tools designed to give lighting designers a huge amount of creative potential. These include motorized focus, zoom, iris and shutter, twin color and GOBO wheels, two frost filters (light and heavy) and two rotating prisms (6-facet linear and 6-facet circular).
“I am in love with the Focus Spot 6Z,” enthuses Kim. “The design of the outer casing is very cool and inside the features are great, I particularly like the selection of GOBOs. The output from ADJ’s 300W LED engine is also really impressive, the projected GOBO patterns are clearly visible in the daytime, with a lot of ambient light coming in, but at nighttime the lighting looks truly incredible. Over the last two or three years, my personal opinion is that the quality of ADJ fixtures has stepped up a level, but the price hasn’t gone up in the same way. So, I can now get a pro moving head, like the Focus Spot 6Z, from ADJ that is just as good as the ones available from other companies that cost twice as much! I also like the service I receive from ADJ. Although the products are very reliable, if I do ever have a problem, the service department is always quick to make things right again. I also like the fact that ADJ’s QC department checks every fixture before it leaves Kerkrade, so I know that when I place an order there will be no problems when the lights arrive.”
Following the completion of the second phase of CITY2’s moving light installation, Kim has received more good feedback from the venue’s management team. The combination of powerful and versatile fixtures, the right control system and creative programming has not only satisfied their long list of requirements but exceeded them. Now, having proved the concept in Copenhagen, Kim hopes to soon have the opportunity to replicate this success at other malls across Denmark.
