The building is approximately 156m long, 38m wide and 13m high and is the largest structure of its type in Australia. It is constructed of large extruded aluminium portal frames with tensioned PVC fabric providing all-weather protection of the sports surfaces. The PVC fabric allows diffuse sunlight during the day and provides a reflective surface for illumination of sport surfaces from specialised light fittings during night-time use.
Preliminary acoustic modelling highlighted long reverberation times, particularly at speech frequencies, due to the highly reflective nature of the tension fabric linings and court surfaces.A suitable sound reinforcement system was designed to provide paging and high quality background music with direct coverage to each of the court areas. A multi-zoned paging system was installed to provide independent control to each of the eight indoor tennis courts.
A total of 16 Acoustic Technologies LG04 compact full-range loudspeaker enclosures supply high quality audio throughout the facility. The loudspeakers were supplied in a custom colour to match the structural portal frames of the MPOWERdome Sport Hall. These are powered by two Ecler MPA 4-400 multi-channel power amplifiers. Given the challenging acoustic environment, the installed system performs exceptionally well and provides excellent coverage to each of the court areas, the company says.
(Lee Baldock)
