Historic Congress Center Baden Upgrades Ballroom Lighting With Elation Fuze Series

Combining historic ambiance with modern event technology, Congress Center Baden has enhanced the lighting capabilities of its landmark venue by investing in Elation's Fuze Series LED Fresnel fixtures. The upgrade replaces more than 20-year-old conventional and tungsten lighting in the venue's largest event space, the Festsaal (Ballroom), providing greater flexibility, superior light quality, and quiet operation for the center’s diverse event schedule.

Located in the heart of Baden, Austria, Congress Center Baden hosts more than 200 events annually, from international congresses and corporate presentations to classical concerts, galas, fashion shows, and ballroom events. The historic complex is also home to Baden Casino, making it one of the region’s premier cultural and entertainment destinations.

To modernize the Ballroom lighting system while preserving the character of the historic space, the venue installed eight Elation Fuze Wash 500 fixtures with motorized barndoors and twelve Fuze Wash 250 luminaires. An additional four Fuze Wash 250 fixtures have been installed in a smaller hall, with four more available for use throughout the venue as needed.

The decision to invest in the Fuze Series followed a successful evaluation led by venue Technical Director Andreas Gallé, working with Elation’s Austria sales representative, Karl Lager. The goal was to replace conventional fixtures that had become quite old, Gallé says, as well as several tungsten lights. After the trial period, Congress Center Baden selected the Elation Fuze Series for its ballroom lighting upgrade

“We were impressed by the light output, the wide zoom range, the vibrancy of the colors, and the quality of the white light in both Fuze models,” Gallé said. “Another key factor was that the lights are relatively quiet. This is essential in our ballroom because the acoustics of this room make the fan noise of the lights particularly noticeable.”

The Fuze Wash 250 and Fuze Wash 500 are full-spectrum RGBMA LED Fresnel luminaires that combine high-output performance with exceptional color quality. Featuring motorized zoom, up to 17,000 lumens of output, and CRI ratings up to 92, the fixtures deliver beautiful, uniform washes with consistent color matching across both models.

“I was recently able to use all of them in Studio Mode at a classical orchestral concert without any noticeable issues,” Gallé said. “On that occasion, I also used several video cameras to record the concert. Thanks to the wide adjustment range of the LED band width, the recording was possible without any banding or flickering.”

The Fuze Wash 500’s motorized barndoors have also become an indispensable tool in the Ballroom. “Due to the building's layout, these lights are mounted lower than we would prefer,” Gallé explained. “The barndoors are now frequently used to quickly and effectively mask off the edges of the stage, helping to mitigate glare for the audience or musicians, and we can do it on the fly.”

For the more compact Fuze Wash 250, appearance was an important consideration given the venue’s historic architecture. “We were immediately impressed by its compact and, in my opinion, visually appealing design, which is, of course, an important factor in historic rooms such as this.”

The new lighting system was immediately put through its paces during one of Baden’s signature celebrations, the annual “Baden in Weiß” (Baden in White) festival, where thousands of visitors dressed in white gathered throughout the city for two nights of entertainment. Three rooms at the Congress Center Baden, as well as the casino terrace, were transformed into dance venues, including the Festsaal, where the new Fuze fixtures provided lighting throughout the festivities.

With the installation now complete, Gallé says the investment has delivered exactly what the venue was looking for. “We are happy with the Fuzes—they serve us well in our multifunctional Congress Center.”

About Elation
At Elation, we collaborate with leading professionals in the lighting industry to help bring extraordinary experiences to life. As a designer and manufacturer of a wide range of high-performance entertainment lighting products, we’re proud to be a trusted partner to top lighting professionals and production/rental houses around the world. Our commitment to quality, innovation, and creative solutions has made us a go-to resource in the industry. We also offer an advanced line of lighting control products through Obsidian Control Systems, and a full range of dependable specialty effects called Magmatic. Elation serves clients worldwide through offices in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Canada, and the Netherlands. We invite you to take a closer look at elationlighting.com

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