Helensvale Primarys Performing Arts Centre equipped with Nexo and DiGiCo
Published: ASIA
AUSTRALIA: Queensland-based Helensvale Primary school’s new 1,100-capacity Performing Arts Centre has recently been equipped with a complete A/V solution that was designed, supplied and installed by Dominica Sound. Group Technologies distributed the Nexo and DiGiCo equipment for the project.
The new space is roughly the size of a basketball court and features a stage at one end and an elevated seating area at the other. ‘Helensvale wanted to ensure the space was able to accommodate a wide variety of events,’ said Steve McCallum, director of Dominica. ‘They were previously hiring halls out at their local arts centre for school events but wanted to become self-contained in order to cut some of their operational overheads. They also intend on renting the centre out to other schools in an effort to generate some income from the space, while saving other schools money at the same time.’
The audio system comprised a Nexo Geo S12 system including four Geo S12 speakers with a Geo S1230 module and a Geo S1210 flown per side, completed by two ground-stacked RS15 subwoofers.
‘The distance from the stage to the end of the hall was too far to use anything else,’ Mr McCallum asserted. ‘We would have had to have used delay speakers half way down the hall using other products and that wouldn't have worked well for people sitting in certain parts of the hall. The reflections would have made it near impossible to get right, and there was also raked seating at the back which ran about 4m high, and the people sitting in those seats needed to be considered. With the Geo S12 system, we were able to get the sound evenly dispersed across the whole space. It sounds beautifully clear from end to end.’
To compliment the speaker system, a DiGiCo SD11 console was commissioned and installed for the centre. ‘We went with the DiGiCo console because it turned out to be a higher quality and more cost effective solution than anything else,’ he continued. ‘The sound quality of any other digital console wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as the SD11, so it was a simple choice.’
So far, the console has been particularly useful for the school’s daily talent show: ‘The SD11 was set up with every input on every layer so anybody could walk in, clearly see which fader belonged to which input, and begin using the desk,’ Mr McCallum said. ‘The teachers have commented on how easy it is to use – they just turn it on, select the inputs and then control the volume, it's that simple!’
In addition to the sound system, a complete lighting and projection solution was also installed by Dominica.
‘Everyone loves the new system,’ said Mr McCallum. ‘One of the teachers told me that they feel like they've won the lottery!’