The general contracting company, Marazzi AG, were awarded the contract for the planning and the realisation of the stadium, with a construction budget of 350m Swiss Francs. Over 32,000 comfortable seats make the Stade de Suisse one of the largest sporting stadiums ever built in Switzerland. Spectator comfort is at the forefront under the covered stands. There is an extensive range of catering services at over 20 locations in the ground; VIP and business lounges, 20 boxes, clear stewarding and sign-posting arrangements for visitors and a state-of the-art entry system are all provided by the new Stade de Suisse.
To ensure excellent communication throughout the vast complex a 79,000W public address system has been installed. Put out to tender by Marazzi AG, the contract for the PA installation was awarded to Fischerplan Electronic GmbH of Rodersdorf, working to an overall system design by Dr.W.A. Günther Audio Systems, who provided full project support right through to final commissioning.
Dr. W.A. Günther designed a complete Harman Pro solution for the main system, covering the playing area and stands, complemented by a 100V line evacuation system from Bosch Präsideo operating in the inner concourse of the stadium complex.
The core elements of the arena's PA system are JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown digital amplifiers, BSS Audio digital audio matrix, Soundcraft K1 desk, as well as wireless microphone technology and conference systems. The complete processing and distribution of the signal, from the loudspeaker to the final stage, is fully digital and redundant.
The Soundcraft mixing desk was configured with 20 x mono and 10 x stereo inputs. Said Dr. W.A. Günther's Felix Alpstäg, "We recommended the K Series because of its modularity and flexibility, and provision of sufficient stereo inputs. This provides us with enough groups for routing to all zones within the stadium, while at the same time meeting the requirement for redundancy."
The rugged K1 offers a choice of 8, 16, 24 or 32 mono or stereo inputs, with four sub groups and six auxiliaries. Four band EQ throughout, integral stereo returns and matrix complete this powerful mixing package.
In combination with Bosch Präsideo, this system concept fulfils the standard for electrical-acoustic emergency warning systems, EN 60849. The acoustic measurements carried out during commissioning of the system demonstrate a high level of speech intelligibility and plenty of headroom; it also illustrated a well-balanced acoustic pattern, extremely good sound-level distribution and impressive acoustic reproduction in the bass range.
As a result, in addition to hosting soccer matches, the infrastructure will offer the stadium's future event management an ideal platform for the organisation of modern events, such as festivals, concerts, bike or motor-cross races, congresses and conferences.
(Chris Henry)
