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Anyone who has joined the young and trendy on the pub scene recently will have noticed some changes. Real ale has been replaced by East European lagers and local spirits are being swept aside by flavoured vodkas.

At the heart of this change of ethos is the Russian vodka bar chain Revolution. The brainchild of Manchester-based firm Inventive Leisure, the company opened the first Revolution Vodka Bar in March 1996 in its home city. It now operates 33 across the UK. One of the latest to open is in Milton Keynes. Based at the Xscape leisure centre, the two-storey venue has been operating successfully since December.

A Keynesian revolution
Every Revolution bar is individually designed; the most recent has dedicated areas for eating, sitting and dancing. Lighting is playing a major role in the branding of the bars and being used as a method of distinguishing these areas.

Inventive Leisure commissioned Into Lighting Design to develop and implement the lighting for the Milton Keynes branch with design consultant Julian Taylor Associates. Into won the contract having previously worked with the design consultant and following its successful design and production of feature lighting at the Chester branch.

The client wanted a flexible lighting scheme that would interact with and reflect the materials used in the bar. The scheme was split into two, with independent control systems for each floor. This echoes the different uses of the floors: at ground level there is a formal dining area; on the first floor the onus is on the bar, lounge and dancefloor. The lighting concept was to use colour and movement to ensure the desired experiences in each separate area.

Into specified a 12-channel, pre-set Leax control system, which enables the bar lighting to be changed to create different scenes.

In the formal dining area, red, dimmable, 1-10 V cold cathode lamps wash the textured walls. In the wall panels, fibre optic slots with dmx-controlled colour changing add to the scene-setting. Fibre optics also provide colour-changing, wall-washing, with all fittings powered by 150 W cdm projectors. More intimate areas are provided in the bar on this floor by use of blue-steeled effect pendants that provide a low-level, accent light.

A double-height area cutting from ground through first floor reminds diners of the areas upstairs. Large, parchment lightshades designed by Into for this area remove any clash of atmospheres, while maintaining the sense of space.

To achieve impact in the main first-floor bar, Julian Taylor specified a colour-changing, glass wall spanning the length of the lounge. To create this, the chain's retained electrical contractor PEI Delta installed 1-10 V, dimmable red, green and blue cold cathode lamps. These phase through colour and speed sequences during the opening hours to reflect the bar's different uses by time of day. More colour was added by integrating coloured fibre optics into the length of the bar.

A second lounge on this floor is walled by dark wood panelling washed by tight beam, low voltage lamps with dichroic coloured glass filters. Red parchment pendants separate this area from a dance floor where fibre optics project tight beams of colour onto the floor.

The vodka bar Revolution is set to continue. It reached Wales in March and Inventive Leisure believes that there is room for another 100 in the UK. If you've not got a venue near you, there is always Mobile Revolution – a bar on wheels complete with staff and, of course, fully stocked with vodka.