Integrated Entertainment Solutions lights up the Warehouse
The Thane area of Mumbai has a new upscale lounge - The Warehouse Lounge, that has already become Thane’s happening night spot. Lighting up the dance floor is Mumbai’s premerier lighting company - IES. PT takes a look.
Warehouse Lounge is the latest nightspot in Mumbai’s City of Lakes – Thane. Located in the industrial Kothari Compound of Kokanipada area of Thane West in Central Mumbai, Warehouse Lounge is a casual dining and dance venue boasting of great menu and an equally happening ambiance.
Warehouse Lounge delivers a blissful sensory experience, courtesy a high power sound system and a vibrant lighting integration, which peps up the otherwise dark “warehouse” like setting. A visually minimalist Martin Audio system supplied by Integrated Entertainment Solutions (IES) has been installed at the venue, but what stands out at the new lounge is the lighting, also designed and installed by the company.
The over two decade old Distribution & Trading Company and sole distributor for some of the world’s best lighting brands like Robe, Avolites and Madrix, to name just a few, were roped in to provide complete turnkey solution for the lounge which included, Concept, Design, Supply, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance & Servicing for both audio and lighting.
The promoters had provided a clear, simple brief that they wanted a nightspot that Thane had not seen before. “The promoters wanted an upscale place in Thane, which was missing in this part of town. There are pubs and clubs in Thane but none like Warehouse Lounge. The venue can easily accommodate 200-300 people. The ground level has seating on both sides with the bar located to the far end of the ground level, with a dance area in front of the bar. There is an upper deck or mezzanine level where the VIP area and DJ booth are located and additionally, there is a quieter outdoor section where people can have a smoke or can sit down and have a relaxed conversation. The size and scale of the venue is its main USP. The place offers everything that a Thane patron would normally have had to drive to Mumbai for,” says Rasesh Parkeh of IES.
Though the venue was intended to be used as a lounge (as the name suggests) for most part of the time, IES based their lighting design concept to suit a multi-utility venue. “First and foremost I made sure that I deliver a lounge effect. We achieved this by using down lights and by using LED lighting bars on the walls to create a very rich lounge effect. The length of the venue allowed us to use our lasers to create beautiful effects transforming the lounge ambience into a happening dance floor. However, I also made sure that the lighting at the venue could also transform the ambiance of the space into a meeting zone or a space for product launches if need be. If the venue were to use warm white in the LED configuration, then they would be able to do lunches and casual day meetings as well. The venue can also be used for announcing a product launch by using the spotlight feature in the moving heads that we have installed. Two projectors and projection screens on either sides allows patrons to project images and videos. Even if people wanted to host a party and wanted to book the whole place, they would be able to use the venue very effectively, courtesy the lighting install,” says Parekh.
MADRIX is a huge part of the installation at Warehouse Lounge delivering vibrant, symphonic effects. The venue boasts of a high ceiling of 20ft from ground level and IES ensured that they used this to their advantage. 625 LED tubes hang down from the centre of the ceiling, just above the bar in the VIP zone, while LED dots adorn the other sides of the VIP section. The Madrix software and Avolites console drives the LED tubes and LED Dots installed from the roof of the venue. The main challenge for IES was working around the structure of the roof as it was not flat and was slanted on both sides of the centre. IES had to get creative to implement the design and install the lights.
“Madrix operates on three different levels – 1. It has presets already built into it, which allows you to do a lot of stuff, which is ready to go. Once you do a little basic mapping and storing, the rest is a cakewalk and can be done by anybody very easily. 2. Based on Madrix’s original slogan, ‘Madrix – Music makes light’, MADRIX offers incredible Music2Light (M2L) effects. Based on that you could use your sound to generate colours, patterns and generate incredible designs. You have a sound output that comes out of your sound desk, goes into your computer and you could use the music that you are playing to drive it; it’s that simple. 3. Madrix allows us to program designs. As a part of our installation package, we have also given them a programmer and he has programmed certain features, and the venue has a LJ who works with us to understand what we are doing and learn how to use the hardware and software features.”
The challenge for Parekh while designing the lighting for the Warehhouse Lounge was to take into consideration, not only the target clientele, but also the number of promoters involved in the project. Seven promoters backed the project and each one had a vision, which needed to be taken into account, while also taking into deliberation the Architect’s vision. “The promoters are new entrants in the hospitality business and each of them comes from diverse business backgrounds. There were pro and cons to this. People who have not been in the hospitality industry cannot visualize beyond a point but the beautiful part of working with them was that they were extremely particular about details. Everything was conceptualised and planned to the T. Only after I had worked on several Autocad drawings and explained the entire concept of the tubes, lasers, LED dots, projectors etc., after all the promoters had vetted the plans and come back with their own version and I had gone back to them with my renditions was the design approved. The challenge for me was to see that all seven of them were happy,” he says.
The lighting installation that took about a month and a half to be completed, today stands testament to the twenty-year expertise of IES as one of the premiere companies in the field of pro lighting.