The Torre Agbar, or Agbar Tower, the corporate headquarters of the Agbar Group, is a 21st century skyscraper in Barcelona and one of the most unique buildings in the world. Opened in June 2005, it was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel. In its lower recesses is a 316-capacity auditorium outfitted with a dynamic Martin Architectural color-changing system.
The Agbar Auditorium’s design is unique due to the need to avoid placing pillars in the audience and stage areas. The option taken was a double-curved concrete slab, voided by means of expanded polystyrene waffle pods that help resolve the problem of resistance and to a large extent shape the mound required by the architectural project.
ECLER, Martin Architectural’s Spanish representative, carried out the lighting project in conjunction with the architects, the first stages of which were completed in April 2005. The project is based on the lighting of the auditorium’s neutral colored walls.
In the pit area located between the side walls and the rows of seats, a double line of Cyclo 03 full color mixing fluorescent luminaires was placed. Cyclo 03 Directional units were also installed. In all, some 90 Cyclo units wash the auditorium’s walls in single color, multi-color, or variable white light, providing a versatile decorative element to the multi-use space. Designed around a slim housing and based on dimmable T5 fluorescent lamps, the Cyclo 03 is a surface mounted fixture that uses RGB color mixing to generate white light of any temperature, as well as virtually all colors and shades. Built-in DMX control ensures easy command of the RGB color mixing.
The Agbar Tower Auditorium installation was carried out by EMTE in conjunction with Lunatus and ECLER. The control system was installed by the Mirelec company with Gepro and Master responsible for the engineering.
