The auditorium forms part of the redevelopment of ADFA - a partnership between the Australian Defence Force and the University of New South Wales - which provides training and education for future leaders of the country's Navy, Army and Air Force.
Tim McCall, sales manager at L-Acoustics notes, "Consultant GUZ BOX design + audio was brought in to design the audio system for the new space. The requirement was primarily for a system to provide vocal reinforcement, presentation sound and background music on a limited audio budget and with minimal visual impact. So it needed to be as compact as possible both in terms of both sizing and cost.
"As a fairly large space, the system needed to be able to cover the entire seated audience, both in combined mode and separate mode. And as it's primarily a lecture theatre, good intelligibility in every seat was vital."
L-Acoustics distributor and integrated technology solutions company, Hills SVL, was initially approached by GUZ BOX design + audio in 2012 to give recommendations on how to achieve the complex control, audio and visual requirements of the proposed auditorium, a process which took over 12 months from start to finish.
"Right from the beginning there were very strict criteria for architectural aesthetics, projection site lines and the operable wall requirements of the venue," explains Hills Brand Manager - Pro and Commercial Audio, Gerry Gavros. "Due to the use of multiple projectors, it was important that the system should be as visually discreet as possible. In the early stages of planning, both column arrays and distributed speaker solutions were under consideration."
As the project progressed, Hills kept in close communication with the builder and team at GUZ BOX. "We were involved in the important aesthetic implementation of products, both for the furniture and the auditorium," continues Gerry. "It was at this point that we were requested to re-address the sound reinforcement solution and look at an alternative to the single enclosure distributed loudspeaker system.
"We chose to submit an L-Acoustics system for consideration and our design team worked closely with L-Acoustics' application engineers to offer a variable curvature line array solution."
Hills specified an L-Acoustics Kiva system to provide a flexible and powerful, yet discreet, audio solution. The final design comprised three arrays of six Kiva cabinets topped with an SB15M sub. The arrays are powered and controlled by just one L-Acoustics LA4X amplified controller. This allows for combined control of the arrays when the venue is in combined mode, whilst allowing each array to address distinct areas of the auditorium when it is in separate mode.
(Jim Evans)
