PROVO, Utah -- More than 60,000 college students every fall descend on this otherwise quiet community. And for the first time in a long time these young adults have a place to go to let off steam – the Loft.
This club has all the glitz and glamour of the hot Miami Beach and New York City nightclubs. The only thing missing at the Loft is the alcohol. Nevertheless, this club has been the hit of the campuses at Brigham Young and Utah Valley universities since it opened in August.
“There's really no other club like this in Provo,” said Justin Chatterton, president of The Beat of Time, a lighting company that designed the venue and suggested using CHAUVET products.
Of the more than 100 mostly-CHAUVET fixtures Chatterton installed, the majority were LED and a number of them were special effects, such as foggers and lasers. The Q-Spot 300 fixtures created ambience. Chatterton installed eight CHAUVET DIAMONDstrip all white LED wash lights behind the DJ booth. When flashed, the lights create a shadow of the DJ that spreads across the room. “That's really cool,” he said.
The main floor area, at about 1,000 square feet, contains a concession bar, dance floor, small stage and DJ booth. The equal-sized second floor includes another dance floor, lounge area with 50-inch high-definition televisions and separate VIP rooms for private parties. Chatterton used CHAUVET's computer-based ShowXpress with the Xpress Plus interface to operate the lighting on the main floor and CHAUVET's X-Factor to operate the second floor lighting.
The two-story cream-colored brick building, originally a J.C. Penny store built in the early 1900s, did pose several challenges for Chatterton and his crew.
“Power was an issue, with circuits and how many lights we could have. But this is where the LEDs came in,” he said. Because LED lights draw less power, he was able to install all of the fixtures the owner wanted without having to upgrade the electrical service.
The second issue was whether the ceiling could physically hold the lighting equipment. Chatterton explained that he attached metal framing to the old wooden rafters in the attic and bolted the light fixtures through the old ceiling to the frames. “Now as you look at the ceiling, the lights look free-floating,” he said. He was also able to use trussing, a full circle in the center and quarter circles at the corners of the room.
The final obstacle was the four load-bearing columns on the dance floor that could not be removed, he said. He cut several trusses in half, wrapped them around the poles and clamped on lights. He used LEDrain 38 fixtures as truss warmers to enhance the look. “You can control each individual truss, make it a solid color or spin it,” he said, adding that since he couldn't hide the poles, he might as well emphasize them.
Chatterton said the consensus is that the Loft is the hottest nightclub in Utah. “They really loved the LED effects; they said they'd never seen a show like that in the state,” he said.
Gear List:
4 CHAUVET Derby X
2 American DJ Mega Strobe DMX
6 CHAUVET Vue 4.1
25 CHAUVET LEDrain 56
2 CHAUVET Kinta X
2 CHAUVET Double Derby X
4 CHAUVET LED Mushroom
10 CHAUVET Q-Spot 300
44 CHAUVET LEDrain 38
8 CHAUVET DIAMONDstrip
4 CHAUVET Shadow 125
2 CHAUVET FlexFog 1800
1 CHAUVET Xpress Plus
1 CHAUVET X-Factor
1 CHAUVET Data Stream 4
2 CHAUVET Scorpion Storm RGX
1 CHAUVET Scorpion Scan
2 CHAUVET Scorpion Sky
4 CHAUVET COLORtube 2.0
4 CHAUVET Trackscan 250 DBR-ILS
4 CHAUVET Trackscan 250 DSR-ILS