Cairns Theatre, Brighton College, Specifies GLP Gear

	The 60 modular Nexus units will often be deployed backstage and around the foyer performance area, their magnetic strips easily attached to the steel decking to provide atmosphere. Photo: Brighton College

When Brighton College, based in Brighton and Hove, UK, unveiled its new cultural hub, The Richard Cairns Building, the centerpiece was a 400-seat, multipurpose performance theatre.

Its advanced technical infrastructure includes five product series from the GLP LED catalog, supplied by Stage Electrics and supported by GLP UK. This included the impression X5 Wash, WildBar 16, JDC Burst 1, and GLP Creos. The college also uses 60 of GLP's flexible Nexus wireless, battery-powered RGBW panels.

The new building also houses a separate drama and dance studio, 13 music rooms, and an adaptable foyer area for impromptu performance, among its suite of spaces. Therefore, central to the thinking of performing arts technical and facilities manager, Joe Wailes, was the need for portability and an IP65 rating.

However, one fixture that's been rooted to the Cairns Theatre, as an overhead and backlight wash, has been the first batch of X5 washes. "They have become the staple wash, and with their incredible depth, I believe they are the best color fixture we've got," he says.

The entire project was tendered in 2019, but underwent a gestation period, with some of the original specified lighting now redeployed to the black-box dance studio. When Wailes arrived in the summer of 2024, he chose his preferred vendors based on experience. "I would always choose GLP for my wash lights," he says.

"I was keen to work with [Stage Electrics]," he says, "and was very happy with [the equipment and service] we received. They also arranged a demo day with us, with a lot of different types of fixtures to help with the selection." Installation was carried out by the College's in-house team.

Wailes adds, "The reason I chose [GLP] was so we could support work around the building and campus generally -- which is why I went for the WildBars [powerful tilt bars] and the same with Creos [three-by-six-row stacked wash lights]." Both have IP65 protection ratings, and Creos recently showed its versatility by washing the building's exterior in a rich red to enhance a show.

When choosing products, a further consideration for Wailes in getting the best value was with the pupils in mind: "If they want to pursue technical theatre as a career, they should be using equipment that is out there now and is industry standard. And that's another reason I chose GLP for the wash lights."

The 60 modular Nexus units will often be deployed backstage and around the foyer performance area, their magnetic strips easily attached to the steel decking to provide atmosphere.

All the shows in the multipurpose Cairns Theatre, which will run the gamut from opera to musical theatre, will be piloted from an ETC Eos Apex desk.

Wailes adds, "I think the impression X5 represents the best color mixing we have in the theatre. It was a key feature that they could work really well with skin tones, especially when we are staging ballet and straight drama, and then within hours, we will be hosting a rock-and-roll night when we need really bold colors. And the beauty of the X5 is that they do both really well."

He highlights another "massive advantage: The fact that you have the same chips in WildBar and the Creos as you do in the X5 allows so much more versatility to my designs, because I don't have to worry about matching the colors."

Added Stage Electrics head of key accounts and partnerships, Paul Roughton, "Stage Electrics were delighted to support Joe and the team throughout this project. From early discussions and hands-on demonstrations through to delivery, our focus was simply to make sure they had the right tools in place to achieve the result they were aiming for. Stage Electrics have worked with Joe for many years, and it's always a pleasure to collaborate with someone who knows exactly what they want from a space.

"We also have a long-standing relationship with Paul and the team at GLP; we always enjoy working with them. GLP products remain a strong part of our portfolio, and this project is a great example of how their reliability and performance can add real value when paired with the right support. We're proud to have played a part in bringing the design to life."