Seeing a film in Utrecht became even more fun on 14 December 2016: Megabioscoop Kinepolis Jaarbeurs opened its doors to the public! With 14 screens and 3,200 seats, it’s the largest cinema complex in Utrecht and one of the biggest in the Netherlands. All screens are served by razor-sharp laser projectors. For those looking for an even more intense experience, there’s also a Laser ULTRA screen. Kinepolis opened partially with six screens in December 2016. Another four screens opened in February, and since 2 March the entire cinema has been open to everyone. Kropman Installatietechniek was responsible for the overall design and realisation of all the building installations for the complex. Jurgen Sulsters was the Project Leader for the e-installation: “It’s not called a Mega-cinema for nothing. With 14 screens, the cinema has room for 3,200 visitors. There’s also a food court on the ground floor for shared use with the Jaarbeurs. On the second floor there’s a catering area and a sweets counter. The total floor area is around 14,000 m².”
Scope of installations
For a building of this size, the scope of the installations can be subdivided into mechanical, data and electrotechnical, and comprehensive. According to Jurgen Sulsters: “For this project, when it comes to installations we have everything under one roof. This is really helpful, since it simplifies the overall organisation.” Eleqtron supplied the pluggable installation products for the project, including wired cable ducts with the proper configuration, among other things. Eleqtron designed a prefab solution for connecting the step lighting in the stands using branched ribbon cables. All the supplied products were delivered encoded, with the correct work location stated on the packaging.
Reduced workload
Jurgen Sulsters: “Eleqtron responded well to the demands of the construction process and has really helped to reduce our workload. Because all of the products were supplied prefab and packaged per room, we lost much less time than we would have with a standard delivery, and we were able to work far more efficiently. This was made possible by the excellent preparatory measures taken by Eleqtron, in collaboration with Kropman’s engineering department. This ensured that installation was successful. After receiving instruction on the basic principles, our assembly team was able to get to work quickly. In this regard, Eleqtron’s price/quality is very favourable.”
Ribbon cable solution
The ribbon cable solution also offered many advantages. Jurgen Sulsters: “This was also an excellent prefab solution. The cables were installed under the steps in the stands before being connected to the step lighting. The branch blocks were connected to the ribbon cables prior to installation. We then fitted the entire assembly under the steps. This kind of work used to be much more complex. After measuring, some machining was required under the stairs for installing the junction boxes. Then the cables had to be connected. With prefab ribbon cables, all this can be done far faster and you’re not in danger of making mistakes.”
