17.09.2014 | Elation Lighting Upgrade for Classy Vibiana Event Facility in Los Angeles

Vibiana, originally St. Vibiana, Los Angeles’ first Archdiocese Catholic cathedral and one of the city’s few remaining nineteenth century landmarks, was beautifully transformed into a stunning full service event facility in the late 2000’s, and more recently has been outfitted with a state-of-the-art Elation Professional LED lighting system.  

Located in the historic core of downtown Los Angeles, Vibiana is a much sought after venue for weddings and receptions, performing arts, and events of all types. Its historical atmosphere, refined architecture and elegant Main Hall form ideal surroundings for any special occasion.   

Expanding the possibilities

Because lighting in Vibiana’s Main Hall consisted of simple non-dynamic white light, the venue had to rent in lighting equipment every time there was an event that required something extra. And when you do that costs can be quite high, says Adrian de Pamphilis, owner of audio, visual and lighting systems company Fyxx Entertainment (www.fyxxent.com), who was contracted to custom-design a dynamic lighting system for the space.

“They made the decision to buy a lighting package instead of always renting it in,” he says. “It’s not only a less expensive solution; it gives their clients more possibilities to create the right atmosphere for their event. It also makes event setup easier as they already have the lighting in-house.” Adrian and his in-house staff at Fyxx worked closely with Elation Sales Manager John Lopez on the project to choose the right lighting equipment for the new lighting scheme.

Main Hall

Vibiana’s Main Hall is a spacious room with lofty, beautifully designed arched ceilings, Corinthian columns and raised altar. Brimming with century old details, the room’s white interior is a virtual blank slate that allows clients to dress their occasion in custom color and ambiance.

Mounted on overhead soffits on either side of the room are Elation Event Bars, 4-head white LED pinspots perfect for downlighting table centerpieces and pinspotting special features or special moments. Each 3W head is individually controllable and dimmable for custom control. Also mounted in the soffits are Platinum Spot LED II color and gobo changing moving heads used for general washes and pinspotting the altar. Any custom image projections are handled by Elation Image Pro 300 II gobo projectors.

Color washing the room’s arched ceiling and uplighting the many columns are Elation EPAR Tri and Opti Quad (RGBW) Par color changing LED lights, small enough to be placed discreetly about the room yet powerful enough to wash the room in uniform shades of color.  

Outdoor lighting

The Main Hall isn’t the only space that features new dynamic lighting. The immersive lighting scheme actually begins outside, before guests even enter the venue. Here, high-powered Elation ELAR EXQUAD Par HP Par fixtures and ELAR EXTQW flood lights illuminate the venue’s outdoor façade in shades of color that both enhance the building’s exterior and allow clients to match the exterior lighting scheme to an event's color theme. Both the ELAR EXQUAD Par and ELAR EXTQW are IP65 outdoor rated for use in any type of weather and feature RGBW color mixing systems for saturated shadow-free color projections including a genuine white.

LED benefit

Except for the image projectors, there are no conventional fixtures in the new lighting package, the venue opting instead on the many benefits of LED. Adrian explains: “Vibiana wanted a bullet proof system – one that required virtually no maintenance so the decision was made to go with all LED fixtures. With LED, they save on bulb changes and power and there is no risk of a bulb going out during a ceremony or event.”  

Another often overlooked benefit of LED was also an important issue - safety. “LED lighting stays cool and with the Elation lights they no longer risk an accident by someone touching a hot fixture, especially one of the many children at a wedding event.”

Installed in January 2014, the new Elation LED lighting system is highly versatile, offering a better customer experience and beautiful customizable back drop for events of any style. Although Vibiana still rents in some third party lighting to cover other lighting requirements, Adrian says the new Elation lighting system covers about 75% of their needs.

Elation Equipment: 

60 x EPAR Tri
18 x Event Bar
6 x Platinum Spot LED II
Opti Quad Par
Image Pro 300 II
ELAR EXQUAD Par HP
ELAR EXTQW Flood HP