Robe moving lights have been installed at Glasgow's very ‘happening’ nightspot Byblos – a 900 capacity venue housed in the basement of an atmospheric listed building in Albion Street - in the Merchant City area of town.

These were specified by Andrew O'Neill of Glasgow based design and installation company Flashlite. He's used Robe on several other occasions and knew it was the right kit for the job.

“As always from an installers viewpoint” he says, “Reliability is a key factor - you need fixtures that are going to work with an absolute minimum of fuss and maintenance - so Robe is an obvious choice.”

Byblos has two main rooms and a VIP Bar. It's independently owned by three individuals, two of whom are local nightclub industry movers and shakers .... And all of them appreciate the advantages of good production values.

“They wanted a quality installation” explains O'Neill "and they were prepared to spend some money on it, which is always good.”

One of the main issues was the low ceiling height, so O'Neill chose from the smaller Robe Scan 575 XT and ColorSpot 250 AT ranges. They are neat enough to tuck out of the way, even with low headroom.

Byblos has a broad music policy embracing house, chart R 'n' B and mainstream trance. O'Neill needed to make the venue as dancey and versatile as possible. Furniture is relatively minimal and fully reconfigurable ... with most of the space dedicated to the dancefloor.

In Room 1 he went for scans for their extra speed, choosing six Robe Scan 575 XTs, then adding 6 Robe ColorSpot 250 ATs - picked for their optics and varied effects, plus a mirror ball for disco 'moments'. It's quite a high concentration of fixtures in a small area!

These are controlled by a Robe DMX Control 1024. O'Neill has also used these before, and explains that he thinks the amount of memory available is excellent for the size of the desk, plus it is really easy for LJs to operate.

Room 2 features the smaller Robe ClubSpot 150 CT, 4 ClubScan 250 CTs and 4 ClubRoller 250 CTs, along with 3 DMX Control 24 Pros encased in a custom panel.

O'Neill really rates the new Club Range. “It's basically an upgraded version of Robe's original XT range, which was also excellent. It is our preferred range for low ceilinged environments that require an extra punch” he confirms.

He likes the controllers because they are virtually "tamper proof" once programmed, yet also leave scope for the more adventurous LJs to add their own programmes.

Byblo’s VIP room will also feature Robe - with 4 ClubSpot 160 CTs, 4 ClubScan 250 CTs and 2 DMX Control 24 Pros.

Flashlite completed the Byblos picture by installing EV sound systems into all three rooms at the club.