project 1
Astana Media Center
Design, execution planning and construction supervision of broadcast lighting systems of 14 film and television studios in Astana in Kazakhstan with the company ARRI Lighting Solutions
Designer and project manager: Dipl. Ing. Hans Pfleiderer
Managing Director, ARRI Lighting Solution: Sigrid Müller
ARRI Sales Directors: Klaus Dziuba / Koray Enlioglu
Staff: ARRI project team, Berlin
System integrator: Akfa Teknoloji, Istanbul
Akfa Project Manager: Adnan Sen
Partners: ADB, ETC, Gerriets, Litec, LSS, Manfrotto, Osram, Rittal, Robe, S & L, Schulzendorfer, Stageline, Teyco, Trendco
General contractor: Sembol Construction, Istanbul / Astana
Construction Coordinator: Sarper Sayedem
Building construction period: January 2011 to April 2012
Broadcast Lighting System: Planning and Assembly Time July 2011 to February 2012
Budget: about $ 5 million
ARRI Lighting Solutions
Published in ARRI NEWS April 2012
Astana Media Center in Kazakhstan equipped with state-of-the-art ARRI lighting and suspension systems
"We knew we could rely on ARRI quality." Adnan Sen, project manager, Akfa Teknoloji, Istanbul, Turkey
On behalf of the Government of Kazakhstan, and in cooperation with Istanbul-based systems integrator Akfa Teknoloji, ARRI Lighting Solutions has designed and equipped the new Astana Media Center (AMC), a state-of-the-art 75.500 m² media complex in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan , As a result, AMC has become one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the region, offering highly developed studios and lighting tools for high quality productions for national and syndicated distribution.
Vladislav Bogusevich, Technical Director of the AMC, notes: "Two years ago I prepared my first technical proposal for this project. I wanted a central building where all national television and radio channels could work together. The actual construction started in January 2011 and I can hardly believe what ARRI has achieved in such a short time. We now have the highest technological standards and bring EuroAsia, Kazakhstan TV, Khabar Agency and MIR - the local subsidiary of the Moscow CIS - under one roof."
When searching for a technology provider, the AMC Group knew it needed a company that could deliver in the shortest possible time without compromising on quality. These priorities naturally led Kazakh customers to ARRI Lighting Solutions, a team that had both local and global experience with such projects, including a previous installation in Astana for Khabar-TV, one of the largest networks in the country, and countless successful installations in all over Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Adnan Sen, project manager at Akfa Technology, comments: "This was a very large project, one of the largest in Akfa history. Finishing everything in six months is a great success story. We had up to 150 engineers and workers on the project in various places. We worked with ARRI because it's a well-known company and we've used ARRI products before. We knew we could rely on the quality of ARRI and, secondly, we knew that there probably would not be anyone working within this short timeframe."
The task was to equip 14 modern 1080p HD studios, the four 900 m² production studios, two 450 m² production studios, four 350 m² news studios, two 200 m² daylight studios on the top floor of the Media Tower (Sky Studios) and two smaller studios for visual effects. ARRI also provided a special lighting package for the AMC productions on locationcomposed of ARRI True Blue Daylight, LED Caster and ARRILITE Plus luminaires.
A total of more than 1,500 ARRI luminaires, 200 hoists, 400 pantographs and an electrical infrastructure with 2,500 dimmer channels with a total output of 7.5 MW illuminate the AMC. In close cooperation with Akfa, ARRI Lighting Solutions also oversaw the installation, which was carried out by local and Turkish engineers. The two Sky Studios were among the first studios in the world to be equipped with ARRI's groundbreaking new L-7 LED Fresnels. These versatile, efficient headlamps will bring tremendous energy savings and reflect AMC's commitment to using the latest technological advances.
The Sky Studios were also the first to install ARRI's new self-climbing fly deck, an innovative suspension system for heavy loads. The Flydeck has a built-in motor for vertical adjustment and tracks horizontally along the L-beam. This is a complete, portable solution that is easy to install. The lightweight system is made entirely of aluminum and comes with a flip-flop cable management and numerous pre-wired power strips. The ARRI engineers had to develop additional suspension solutions for the various production studios, which were equipped with special truss circles, traverses and traceable hoists to make the illumination of lighting technology as flexible as possible.
The Astana Media Center is an imposing complex with a monumental tower 24 stories above the central axis of the city. The façade is adorned with giant screens showing live broadcasts of the TV channels inside. In total, the complex can accommodate 20 TV channels, 50 video editing suites, 10 radio stations and 35 audio production suites. The construction of the AMC cost about 425 million dollars, half of which was invested in state-of-the-art technology. it will go live and air in May 2012.
