A lighting rig comprised of 92 ADJ fixtures has been installed by FutureTech Pro at Hive nightclub on the Mediterranean island of Malta. A combination of moving heads, static pars, LED strobes and UV cannons provide a versatile and effective lighting system for the venue, which is capable of delivering a totally immersive experience. This is further enhanced by smoke and haze, created by machines selected from ADJ’s catalog of atmospheric effect generators.
Intimate, but popular, Hive is located in the heart of the Paceville district of St. Julian’s, Malta’s clubbing capital. Housed in the building that once was home to the iconic Axis Discotheque, this new club has a large central dancefloor, surrounded by a stage at the front, a raised seating area on one side and a bar on the other, with a VIP mezzanine above.
The venue’s extensive lighting system was designed by Domnic Attard of DShow Design, who is one of the only fulltime professional Lighting Designers based on the island and has extensive experience in lighting everything from theater and TV productions to concerts and nightclubs. For Hive, Domnic worked in collaboration with Stefan Farrugia, who provided fixture recommendations and advice during the planning stage. Once the design was complete, Stefan’s company, FutureTech Pro, was then responsible for both supplying and installing the equipment before Domnic carried out the programming.
“I love Hive,” enthuses Domnic. “It was a great project to work on and I am very proud of the end result. The ceiling is relatively low, which meant we had to select compact fixtures, and the layout – with a large column in the rear of the dancefloor – was a challenge. I think I changed the design eight times to get it perfect, but what I landed on was just right for the space and looks fantastic.”
Rather than splitting their budget between multiple fixture types, Domnic and Stefan decided on a single moving head which offers the versatility of functioning either as a beam or spot. The Focus Hybrid is a compact, yet feature-packed and potent, fixture which utilizes an efficient 200-Watt cool white LED source. Offering motorized zoom with a beam angle variable between 2° and 24°, it can be used to generate piercing narrow beams as well as wider GOBO projections.
“The Focus Hybrid is a very versatile fixture,” comments Stefan. “It offers the best of both worlds: spot and beam. It is small but has enough power and plenty of features, offering the perfect balance for this kind of club. It is an all-rounder!” “The Focus Hybrids are in two lines, one on each side of the dancefloor,” adds Domnic. “This gives a good throw for the beams, despite the low ceiling, allowing them to shoot all the way across the space. They have a good selection of GOBOs and two rotating prism options, which I made full use of when programming.”
Positioned between pairs of the Focus Hybrids in the central section of the club are Jolt Panel FX LED fixtures. Each featuring a central strip of brilliant white LEDs surrounded by RGB color mixing LEDs grouped into independently controllable zones, they can be used to generate blinding strobe flashes as well as vibrant color washes and pixel-mapped ‘eye candy’ effects. In addition, four of the similar Jolt Bar FX linear fixtures are deployed along the rear of the stage, behind the DJ position, angled upwards to provide backlight.
“To be honest, because Hive is more of an RnB club, the strobe doesn’t get used that much – but it’s there when it’s needed,” explains Domnic. “We use the Jolts more for their vibrant color wash output, which can fill the whole dancefloor with beautifully saturated colors. The bars behind the DJ are also very effective, when all the other lighting is turned off it creates an impressive effect that turns everyone’s head to the stage.” “Both Jolt fixtures are great, flexible units,” adds Stefan. “They offer very concentrated output: blinding strobe effects, colorful washes, and pixel-mapping, the complete package!”
Video is also utilized extensively within the club, which was supplied via sub-contractor Andrew Zammit and his company InnovaLED Technologies. There is a large LED screen positioned at the back of the stage and another angled screen hanging above it. Additional rectangular screens are positioned above the dance floor, with gaps to accommodate rows of lighting fixtures. The first two of these gaps are filled with lines of Allegro Z6 motorized linear LED fixtures interspersed with Encore Z7 LP LED zoom pars. The third and final gap only has pars, which are also positioned around the outside three edges of the space – including on the mezzanine – to spotlight tables.
“We thought about using moving head washes in place of the pars,” explains Domnic, “however because of the low ceiling and to fit within our budget, we choose the Encore Z7 LPs. The motorized zoom function still allows an element of movement and means that I can use them to wash the whole club or to generate narrow beams of color.” “The color mixing offered by these fixtures is fantastic,” adds Stefan, “the addition of the lime LED chip makes a big improvement over older RGB models as well as delivering a high CRI.”
Completing the club’s entertainment lighting installation are COB Cannon LP200ST lime-infused LED wash fixtures, which are used to illuminate performers on the stage, as well as UV COB Cannon LED-powered blacklight fixtures used to provide a background UV glow to the whole space. A pair of Entour Venue ‘faze’ machines, which use regular fog juice to generate an even coverage of atmospheric haze, are used to enhance the beam effects created by the lighting fixtures. In addition, four Fog Fury Jett Pro LED-illuminated fog machines are mounted to the ceiling of venue, pointing vertically down to create powerful, CO2-style, jets of smoke shooting onto the dancefloor.
With signal distribution facilitated by six D4 Branch RM rack-mount DMX splitter/booster modules, Hive’s light show is vibrant and immersive. The collaboration between Domnic and Stefan resulted in a system that utilizes the right fixtures for the space, deployed in significant quantities, and positioned to cover the whole club. Programmed so that the various fixture types perfectly complement each other, as well as the graphics displayed on the club’s expansive LED displays, Hive is one of the most technically impressive clubs in Malta, ensuring that it is busy year-round, filled with tourists and locals alike.
