Litestructures

Adrian Brooks

INSTALLATION

LITESTRUCTURES

SERVICES, INSTALLATION, SEPTEMBER 2006, COMMENTS

George Bush Jr may think that the French have no word for entrepreneur but in our industry at least, we certainly know better. That’s because it was, in large part, founded and created by them. They saw an emerging demand, examined ways in which technology could service that and, often ingeniously, adapted it to their purpose.

Litestructures’ Adrian Brooks was one of those visionary few and, like most of them, he’s still at it. More in the mould of James Dyson than Clive Sinclair, by which I mean that his products and ideas actually work, Brooks has been behind a stream of innovations that have helped shape the entertainment technology business, in clubs, on stage, at exhibitions, in retail, and beyond. Litestructures have even made it to the periphery of Formula One, and all of it in aluminium. Next, he’s pitching up at PLASA with another brand new and unique product, Digitruss. What better moment then to catch up with the former Durkar Lurker and quiz him about yesterdays, today and tomorrow?

“Today’s a great starting point,” says Adrian, “not least because, in going to PLASA, a show we were instrumental in creating, we will once again have an exciting new product, something that can help move things forward.”

Clearly excited beyond the simple euphoria-generating capacity of a pint of Landlord, he continues, “I’ve missed a couple of shows personally because we’ve been restructuring the company and undertaking some very big projects, and that’s taken a lot of time and effort, but it’s done now, and to come back with a brilliant new product in Digitruss, well, what a bonus that is.”

Time to explain just what Digitruss is: “As well as carrying a power rail within the truss which, as you know, we pioneered more than ten years ago, we’ve now added digital control options, specifically the ability to carry DALI and DMX protocols. This obviates the need for separate cabling to intelligent, digitally controllable fixtures.” Just how timely this development is becomes very clear when you consider how the rapid spread of LED-based colour-changing and effects lighting has created new possibilities and a high level of interest and activity in the marketplace.

“Brand new concepts, Big Ideas if you like, are rare, but better or more relevant applications of those ideas are well worth pursuing. When it comes to new applications or better engineering solutions, we’re always the first to do it. It’s one of the things we’re good at, and that I’m proud of. The other major resource we’ve built up over the years is design expertise.

“Advanced products almost demand creative expression, and I think it is very important that we are able to assist customers, designers, architects and so on in producing working solutions which fully exploit the potential of the products. It’s a two part process.”

Adrian clearly believes in the bi-partite approach. His company’s restructuring, coupled with his biggest ever project, the construction of the Litestructures Studio, both exemplify this. Manufacturing of standard or repetition components has been moved to Romania.

This has freed manufacturing manpower and space at the Wakefield HQ, which has increased the resources available for custom components and special projects.

The Studio, now that it has established itself as a full facility rehearsal arena and sound stage (George Michael and crew are in situ as I write), is also generating extra demand for products, many of them customised, which can be quickly made on-site.

“When Dyson moved his manufacturing from Swindon to the Far East, he came in for quite a bit of stick. What has actually happened is that he has kept his product competitive while in Swindon, he now employs more people than before, and they are more skilled, and they earn more money. That’s what we’ve done with Romania and Wakefield.” So, by establishing Wakefield as a centre of excellence, is he creating what could become the first outpost of the University of Wakefield? “Why not? Bloody Doncaster’s got one, Huddersfield’s got one, and they’re just towns, for God’s sake.” Amen to that.

From: September 2006 Issue

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