Brownstone, an exclusive new late-night lounge bar in the heart of Bristol has a simple, yet flexible, lighting control system. Eaton's Studio 5 lighting controls allow five different pre-set 'scenes' to be selected at the touch of a button; manual controls allow fine tuning if required.
Brownstone, an exclusive new late-night lounge bar in Bristol’s Welshback area, has a versatile lighting control system from Eaton. It allows lighting to be adjusted at the touch of a button to achieve five different pre-set “scenes” according to the time of day and function. This setting can be adjusted further manually if required.
Inspired by New York’s ‘Brownstone’ buildings in a trendy residential area of Manhattan, the Bristol Brownstone is a former 17th century warehouse in King Street, one of Bristol’s few remaining cobbled streets. For twenty years it was a student bar, known to generations of students as The Steamrock, but its new ambience could hardly be more different, with sumptuous furnishings and two VIP lounges including the Krug lounge serving champagne at prices from £140 to £695 per bottle. The interior has been completely gutted, the original stone and brickwork exposed and the space designed to double as an open-plan coffee-house/eating place by day and an exclusive lounge club by night.
The bar is lit by a mixture of low voltage and mains voltage lamps. Different areas have different treatment in terms of both lighting and sound systems; for example the main lounge is designed as a “chill-out” area with a warm, relaxed ambience; the Krug lounge and the Snug both have more intimate lighting while the dance floor and main bar area have lighting appropriate to these functions.
Robert Cardis of RCE Services of Leeds, the electrical contractor, selected Eaton’s Studio 5 lighting control system because just two digital marshalling boxes could supply the entire lighting system and provide the necessary control functions. Each Digital marshalling box is rated 16A and incorporates the control circuits and dimmers for up to nine lighting groups. Control can be by direct 12V control circuits or by radio frequency control.
Brownstone uses a wire-free control system. A simple control panel behind the bar controls the entire lighting system via the digital marshalling boxes. Five different pre-set ‘scenes’ can be selected: 100% lighting for cleaning; a daytime setting for meetings over coffee or a snack; a more relaxed mid-afternoon setting; an early evening setting and late evening setting. Within each ‘zone’ the lighting levels can be pre-set for each ‘scene’.
The pre-set levels can be overridden from the bar controls to increase or decrease the lighting for each scene. Meanwhile, a 15-channel hand-held remote controller can be used to adjust individual settings.
“The system is so perfect, we don’t normally use the remote control” says Rich Donaldson, Brownstone’s proprietor. RCE installed the system and made initial settings, Eaton’s Andy Wiles then visited Brownstone and made fine adjustments to commission the system.
Robert Cardis comments on how easy it was to install the Eaton digital marshalling boxes. They are so compact that they could be installed unobtrusively within the open ceiling space. Each box is located close to the load centre for the lighting loads which it serves and a perforated cable tray carries cables and other services to the point of use.
“This approach conforms with the ‘warehouse’ image, which is part of the décor. However it also has a very functional benefit that future changes to services can be accommodated easily without drilling holes and channelling” says Rich Donaldson.
Eaton’s website: www.eatonelectrical.co.uk
Company Information
Eaton’s Electrical business is a global leader in electrical control, power distribution, and industrial automation products and services. Through advanced product development, world-class manufacturing methods, and global engineering services and support, Eaton’s Electrical business provides customer-driven solutions under brand names such as Cutler-Hammer®, Durant®, Heinemann®, Holec® and MEM®, which globally serve the changing needs of the industrial, utility, light commercial, residential, and OEM markets. For more information, visit www.EatonElectrical.com.
Eaton Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturer with 2004 sales of $ 9.8 billion. Eaton is a global leader in fluid power systems and services for industrial, mobile and aircraft equipment; electrical systems and components for power quality, distribution and control; automotive engine air management systems, powertrain solutions and specialty controls for performance, fuel economy and safety; and intelligent truck drivetrain systems for safety and fuel economy. Eaton has 55,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 125 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com.
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