Anolis LED fixtures have been specified and installed for an interior lighting scheme at the new lounge/gaming area of Melbas in Surfers Paradise - one of the highest profile entertainment hot-spots on Australia's Gold Coast.

The project was undertaken by VenuTech - who have previously installed Anolis and Robe fixtures into the bar, restaurant and night club at Melbas as well as into many other venues in the area.

The aim of Melba's new lounge area is to provide a classy space fusing elements of neoclassical and contemporary design in which guests can relax and chill out ... whilst indulging in a spot of game playing if they wish.

The low ceilinged roof features several large recessed Romanesque style frescoes, which contain a lot of detail and have been painstakingly decorated with inset gold leaf work. There is also an eye-catching marbled acrylic fronted bar which is internally lit, along with the spirit shelves behind it.

The lighting scheme was designed by Tony Dowthwaite of TDLD, a high profile lighting design company, and VenuTech's Mick James.

Dowthwaite - who has also used Anolis products on previous projects - had originally contemplated using neon to illuminate the frescos. However tests revealed that it would be difficult to get sufficient output to do this properly, and so he consulted James and they looked into using LED. It was equally as important not to over-light the delicate frescoes.

They asked Anolis's Australian distributor ULA for their help in finding a solution to get exactly the right quality of lighting ensconced into the recesses to emphasise the frescos properly.

ULA came up with custom made cool white, warm white and amber Anolis ArcLink 3 fixtures  - the tungsten tint of the ‘warm' white combined with the richer and denser amber tones are tempered by the coolness and crispness of the cool white to make a perfect combination of hue and texturing for highlighting the gold leaf work.

Anolis first produced a choice of cool white, warm white and amber prototypes which were installed and tested to see if they achieved the desired effect. The final combination was selected by owner, local entrepreneur Paul Allan.

Once the best combination was identified, over 120 of these special fixtures were made to order at the Anolis factory in the Czech Republic. "This is one of the beauties of dealing direct with the manufacturer" explains ULA's Blair Terrace ..... "Tailor made options and solutions can be constructed efficiently and easily".

The Anolis ArcLink 3s are programmed into an E:cue controller and mixed in exactly the right quantities.

The front of the 70 metre bar is lit with 6 Anolis ArcLine 36 RGB strips embedded behind its fascia, and the bottle shelves are also lit with ArcLine 36s.

Paul Allan also owns another nightclub and restaurant, both of which feature Anolis and Robe. Melbas is one of the longest running venues on the Gold Coast, and something of an institution in Surfers. It has now been a leading entertainment venue for over 25 years.