AUSTRALIA: Adelaide Festival Centre has replaced ageing incandescent house lighting in its Festival Theatre and Dunstan Playhouse with more than 200 Anolis Ambiane LED fixtures, reducing power consumption by approximately 50% while delivering smoother, more uniform illumination across both auditoriums.

The upgrade covers the 2,000-capacity Festival Theatre and the 590-seat Dunstan Playhouse. According to Nathan Luscombe, Head of Technical and Production at Adelaide Festival Centre, the original house-lighting installation dated back to 1973 and relied primarily on PAR 56 lamps and other incandescent downlights. After more than five decades of service, the system needed replacing as the venue pursued a more efficient LED solution, in line with government-driven sustainability initiatives.

Dimming performance was a key consideration in the selection process. “Professional high-grade dimming was high on our list of requirements for the new lighting,” said Luscombe. “We tested numerous products that snapped off or on during the last 5%, – 10% of the dimming curve, and with a system life expectancy of around 10 years, it was vital to get details like this correct with any new installation.”

Luscombe also specified DMX or DMX-over-Ethernet control for the environmental and architectural lighting, drawing on experience at Her Majesty’s Theatre, another Adelaide venue operated by Adelaide Festival Centre. Colour-changing capability was equally important, allowing the venues to create bespoke looks for showcases, special occasions and immersive experiences. Networked control also enables visiting productions to integrate the house lighting into their own lighting systems when required.

The new schemes were designed by Eddie Galak of Jands, Anolis’s Australian distributor, who developed the proposals and carried out extensive modelling to meet the venue’s requirements. The available beam angles and lens options, alongside the quality and vibrance of the output, helped determine the fixture selection.

Maintaining the venues’ established white walk-in look was another priority. The target colour temperature of 3,200K was slightly cooler than standard, but was chosen to replicate the previous appearance. Anolis’s ability to tune white output precisely was therefore a significant factor in the decision.

The installation comprises 12 Ambiane XP56 Recessed fixtures with 45° lenses; 56 Ambiane XP56 Recessed luminaires, comprising 36 with 45° lenses and 20 with 60° lenses; 93 Ambiane MP111 recessed fixtures, including 75 with 80° lenses and 18 with 60° lenses; and 36 Ambiane MP111 Surface Mount fixtures with 60° lenses. All RGBW fixtures are specified at 3,200K, with the MP111 recessed units also featuring custom RAL trims. The combination of luminaires is distributed across both venues.

In Festival Theatre, fixtures are positioned in the ceiling, beneath bridges, recessed into balconies and under boxes, as well as in upward- and downward-facing configurations to graze the walls. As part of the wider refurbishment, the scalloped side-column covers were replaced, with bespoke covers for the new Anolis fixtures designed to meet heritage requirements.

At Dunstan Playhouse, the luminaires are installed across five levels and beneath the balcony, using the existing lighting apertures wherever possible. The Ambiane range’s flexibility in mounting, beam angles and lensing allowed the design to maintain controlled illumination while achieving consistent coverage across the auditoriums. Reusing existing openings also helped simplify installation within the heritage-listed complex.

The system now delivers the required white-light levels of approximately 150–160 lux, and 200–220 lux for colours, with the house lights operating at around 70% intensity, according to Luscombe. This leaves additional output headroom and eliminates the need for staff to work at height to replace failed lamps.

Galak, who has specified and designed Anolis solutions for several leading auditoriums in Australia, also highlighted the local availability of replacement power supplies as a practical benefit for long-term support.

ETC Paradigm provides lighting control across both venues. The fixtures operate on dedicated networks but can be connected readily to a production lighting network or console.

ITE completed the installation, having previously worked with Galak at Llewellyn Hall in Canberra. Luscombe praised the team, describing them as “excellent – helpful and knowledgeable, understood how we function and had worked with Anolis before.”

The completed upgrade has been well received by audiences and staff, with both spaces presenting a brighter, crisper and more contemporary appearance while improving the lighting experience and reducing energy use.