GUATEMALA CITY – Walter G. Moran opted to include fixtures from Italy-based LDR (Luci Della Ribalta) for a major lighting installation at the Frater, which ranks among the largest churches in Central and South America. The modern multi-complex venue is built on a site in San Cristobal, a few miles away from the Guatemala City’s center. The 50,000 square meter building includes a main auditorium with 13,000 seats, and the church is the largest man-made structure in the country. Moran was assisted with consultation from Fabiano Besio of LDR of Italy.
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“With 113,000 sqm site, 50,000 sqm building the Frater is the largest Christian Church in central and South America. We worked hard” says Walter Moran head of the lighting project “ but it’s important that everybody is happy with the achieved result. A special thanks goes to Fabiano Besio who supported us and to all the team who worked on this project.”
It’s always spring in beautiful Guatemala, the small state in Central America famous for its nature, beautiful landscapes and home of the largest Christian Church of Central – South America, the Frater.
The Frater belongs to a Christian congregation, Fraternidad Cristiana de Guatemala, established in the late 70’s by pastor Pastor Jorge H. Lopez. The congregation is founded on the values of the family and through the years has gathered thousands of people – becoming a model for Central and Latin America.
The main auditorium is used for religious services as well as religious celebrations and representations. La Via Dolorosa, representation of the Passion, bring together more than 30,000 people in three days and during the month of June , the Frater, it’s home of the world largest Christian Music Festival, Explomusic fest.
Lighting provides a potent mood enhancer and particular attention was given to its installation, a big challenge due to the impressive dimensions of the building and the nature of its context.
The design was commissioned with the intention of creating an intimate atmosphere as well as being capable of meeting the theatre and live concert needs during the all-year-round program of events and functions. Walter G. Moran, a leader in lighting design in Central America was named head of the project
Due to the challenging nature of the project Mr. Moran was assisted with consultation from Fabiano Besio of LDR of Italy. The team also worked under the supervision of Frater’s artistic director Renato Briones and lighting director Luis Chacon.
Replacement of the existing house lighting was one of the biggest challenges that the team had to face since the roof is at 30 metres high above the audience sector, and the existing power distribution and hanging points were not easy accessible.
The initial idea of using tungsten halogen lamp source was discarded in favour of more long-lasting sources capable of reducing maintenance costs, and using the existing mains wiring and structure.
After a close evaluation of available equipment they chose for LDR ALBA LED zoom profile. With only 200W ALBA is capable of delivering the same light level as a conventional 1000 TH source and thanks to its superior optic design and front zoom lenses (a total of five lenses) it can project an homogenous lighting beam up to 30 metres and fully resolve A size gobo patterns.
“Another aspect that made us choose Alba,” says Luis Chacon, Frater’s lighting director “was its unique dimming resolution (0.01%) on one channel only, the colour rendering and skin tone. With ALBA we have the right level of illumination for broadcasting and the perfect colour temperature.”
A lighting simulation using a WYSIWYG program was made dividing house and stage lighting.
Company STL of Guatemala was awarded the installation contract and a total of 90 Alba 8/22 Zoom LED profiles were positioned in the roof for house lighting. Each set of Albas was pointed down and assigned to a specific sector of the auditorium while 87 Alba 8/22s where mounted on a truss surrounding the Stage.
The Installation was completed with two LDR Canto 2000 MSR followspots, operated from the control room. Each set of Albas was wired with DMX cable and terminated with a DMX receiver.
“it’s great job,” says artistic director Renato Briones “The team matched my request and it looks like we have a new building. From now on we have an unlimited opportunity to create different lighting scenery.”
“It was a great pleasure to work on this project,” Says Fabiano Besio of LDR. “With Mr. Moran we made a great team and we have managed to create something new but we also made many people happy with the result. Our passion for lighting and attention to detais made the difference. When a tungsten halogen source is not suitable, ALBA LED proved to be the best alternative solution to achieve what people expect when using a conventional theatre profile zoom lantern.”
Walter Moran commented: “We worked hard, but it’s important that everybody is happy with the achieved result. A special thanks goes to Fabiano Besio who supported us and to all the team who worked on this project.” LDR products are distrbuted in the USA from CANTOUSA more info at www.cantousa.com
