Bath, Somerset, UK based production, rental and installation company Enlightened has designed and installed a bespoke MILOS Quatro 290V trussing ground support system for a brand new performance space that has been created in a Grade 1 listed building on the Corsham Court campus of Bath Spa University.
Enlightened's Simon Marcus has been using and specifying MILOS products for many years and the company has a huge quantity of different MILOS products in its hire stock ..... so there was never a question about which brand he was going to use for the project. "MILOS has a wide range of trussing and accessories, it is very strong and has all the right technical specs as well as looking great for a host of different applications," he says.
The new space is called "The Image Capture Studio" and will be primarily used for postgraduate studies, assorted productions and media related research. It includes a full image capture studio, green screen, projection facilities, a photographic studio set up and will also be used for a selection of different performances, from drama to video and TV production, to poetry reading and dance shows.
Enlightened is also a preferred technical supplier for the University, and Simon Marcus was asked to present a design and a full technical spec early on in the project's planning stages by Professor Ron George. Once this was finalised, Enlightened then bid for and won a competitive tender to supply all the equipment, which includes the MILOS ground support, a full lighting rig, sound and AV equipment, and a number of facilities panels, etc.
The Grade I status of the building dictated that nothing could be fixed or attached to the walls, so the ground support was vital, and the only way to provide positions for the technical elements. Marcus collaborated closely with Glen Brown from MILOS UK, who produced a comprehensive set of drawings and visuals together with weight calculations.
The M290 truss was chosen for its strength, spanning and weight loading capabilities - this is the mid-size truss offered in MILOS' Quick Truss family of products, and in this case, it was the heavy-duty ”V” Range format that was selected. Apart from all the practical considerations, the M290 is also extremely aesthetically pleasing, and in this case provided a stylish contemporary contrast to the historical setting.
The 8 legged structure measures 14 metres wide by 6 metres deep and is 4 metres high. The 4 internal legs (i.e. not the corners) are asymmetric and have all been carefully positioned to avoid obstructing windows, doors and entrances around the space.
There is a central spine running lengthways between the two ends, complete with 5 strengthening cross members.
Knowing that it needed to support a full TV studio lighting rig, Marcus also wanted the structure to have plenty of headroom for future use and to accommodate additional equipment as and when needed, so this again influenced his choice of trussing.
The lighting rig features a full selection of white lights including Kino Flos, Philips Selecon profiles and fresnels, plus LED fixtures. There is a flown Nexo PS10 audio system, a Sanyo HD projector and screen, a full set of drapes and pantograph lifts. Doughty Engineering made a set of custom brackets to allow a shaped Studio Rail to be hung below the structure for precise hanging of the drapes and masking.
Simon Marcus is extremely pleased with the results, "MILOS has proved a great solution all round, and the service and support we've received from the UK office has been brilliant, super-fast and efficient as always," he comments.
Other MILOS trussing installations by Enlightened in the area include another custom installation at the Chapel Arts Centre in Bath, which also utilises a MILOS Quatro 290 system. Enlightened's hire stock features large quantities of MILOS 290 Trio (triangular) and Quatro ( square ) QuickTruss, together with a comprehensive assortment of corners, cubes, offset half couplers, junctions and joining pieces - all for maximum flexibility and the configuring of multiple shapes.
For more press information on MILOS GROUP, please contact Louise Stickland on +44 (0)1865 202679 or +44 (0)7831 329888 or Email me :[email protected]. For more product information, please visit www.milosgroup.com.