28th Feb 2006 - Zero 88 provide complete control for new multi million pound facilities.

Barton Peveril College has recenty completed a new £7million building programme, consisting of 2 drama studios, a dance studio, a recording studio, a 300-seat performance area plus sport and fitness facilities.

Zero 88 products were chosen to control the four performance areas, which required consoles, dimming systems and DMX converters. In total 5 Zero 88 consoles were supplied along with 168 channels of dimming.

Started in October 2004, the project had to run to a tight schedule, as the first production to be staged by the students “Sweeney Todd” had been booked in for December 2005.

Stage Electrics were the contractors responsible for equipping the performance areas and Business Development Manager Andrew Sugg along with Project manager Adrian Veale had no hesitation in recommending Zero 88 products to meet the criteria laid out by the college.

Andrew Sugg explained, “Stage Electrics were very keen to be involved in the Barton Peveril College project. The requirements for equipping each of the performance areas were very specific and our experience has shown us that Zero 88 products were best suited to fulfil the criteria demanded.

In particular the new Jester console has already proven itself within the educational market. The Jester offers a full range of features, is easy to use and is a price that schools and colleges can seriously consider to make it a worthwhile investment.”

The Jester offers up to 48 channels of DMX, using submasters or a traditional theatre playback stack. It also features 12 Auxiliary buttons, which can be used to trigger devices such as scrollers, smoke machines or strobes.


The main auditorium has 72 Channels of Chilli Pro dimming and a Jester 24/48. The Dance studio features 24 channels of dimming and Jester console.

From a central control room the two drama studios each have 36 channels of dimming controlled by individual Fat Frog consoles. Jester consoles were also supplied for controlling the lower levels.
This major new build project has enabled Barton Peveril College to expand its facilities and offer students purpose built, professional Music and Drama suites as well as provide a main theatre for performances. The Sixth Form College offer the following courses

• AS and A2 Level Music and Theatre studies
• BTEC in Performing Arts
• Foundation Music Tech.


In total, the following equipment was supplied

• 2 x 12/24 channel Jester consoles
• 1 x 24/48 channel Jester
• 4 x Betapack 2 dimmers
• 1 x Demux 48
• 2 x Fat Frog consoles
• 5 x Chilli Pro 2410 installation dimmers
• 2 x Chilli Pro 1210 installation dimmers