UK - Liverpool based technical solutions provider Adlib has supplied audio and lighting design, equipment and installation to three venues run by the Liverpool Guild of Students (LGoS) as part of a major £14m refurbishment and upgrade project spearheaded by the University of Liverpool.

This ambitious investment plan was executed over two years to improve the utilization of space, functionality and to enhance the overall student experience at the Guild & Reilly Building which is central to the university campus.

For Adlib, this has included design and installation of a comprehensive power & cabling infrastructure, provision of L-Acoustics and Coda audio systems, together with production lighting rigs featuring more premium brands like Robe, Martin by Harman and ETC and the development of a custom IGUS cable management solution with Lift-Turn-Move (LTM), also based locally

UK - London-based theatre consultancy, Theatreplan LLP has announced the appointment of two new partners to the practice. With appointments that took effect from 1 October, Michael Atkinson and Paul Connolly join current partners, Roger Fox, Dave Ludlam, Clive Odom, Mathew Smethurst-Evan and John Whitaker.

Atkinson first joined Theatreplan as an associate in April 2014 where he designed the stage and working light control systems as well as dimmer engineering for the Copenhagen Opera and a range of other venues. A renowned lighting technology expert whose career has taken him from major West End shows to New York and then back to the UK where he enjoyed a long stint at the National Theatre as Head of Resources, Atkinson's proficiency in all things relating to lighting system design and energy management is nationally recognized.

As well as leading Theatreplan's lighting system

UK - It was announced on Friday that the UK's first government-backed National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries is to be established at The Backstage Centre, High House Production Park, opening in September 2016.

Managed by Creative & Cultural Skills on behalf of a consortium of employers and industry organisations including Live Nation, Royal Opera House, White Light and the Association of British Theatre Technicians, the new National College will provide specialist training in the technical skills needed by the creative and cultural industries. This is in response to significant industry growth, with the creative economy growing at four times the rate of the national economy, and the value of the UK's creative industries exports standing at over £15 billion per year.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The talent which brings plays, operas, and f

UK - Back in 2013 The Potters House Christian Fellowship decided to begin the process of upgrading its audio system in their flagship UK Church in Leyton, East London.

Housed in a large former cinema and bingo hall the existing system was struggling to accurately transfer the message from the Worship leaders to the congregation. The dynamics of the lively, high energy, resident praise band were also being held back by the existing system.

This process took Jason Campbell - sound technician at The Potters House - to the PLASA 2013 trade show where he took in information on a number of manufacturers and possible ways to enhance his Church's audio offering.

The show gave Jason his first opportunity to listen to KV2 Audio's products - most notably a full VHD System in the AudioLab. Being suitably impressed with a brand previously unknown to him, Jason visited KV2 Audio's stand a

Hungary - When the Palace of Arts, Budapest and Hungary's new cultural hub, opened in 2005, it was built to represent more than a hundred years of Hungarian cultural history. As a conglomeration of cultural venues, the building has no precedent in 20th century Hungarian architecture and claims no peers in the whole of Central Europe. The recent addition of a DiGiCo SD10 mixing console to its audio inventory is helping to ensure this exceptional status is maintained into the future.

Known to Hungarians simply as Müpa, the venue brings together the many and varied disciplines of the arts in a unique fashion by providing a home for classical, contemporary, popular and world music, not to mention jazz and opera, as well as contemporary circus, dance, literature and film.

The institution states that its "fundamental task is to introduce new artistic trends and directions - wh

USA - Ohio horse racing fans are celebrating the opening of a five-eighths-mile harness racing track in Dayton and a one-mile thoroughbred track in Austintown (Mahoning Valley). Fans at both locations enjoy the excitement of horse racing and casino gambling supported by the venues' new AV systems.

Owned by Penn National Gaming, both venues are "racetrack casinos" that include casino gambling, para-mutual wagering, live entertainment and several dining options. Penn National Gaming hired integrator Control-Point Technology of Lebanon, Pennsylvania to design and install A/V systems for both venues. Control-Point designed systems featuring Community R.5HPT loudspeakers.

Control-Point's Aaron Replogle says: "Community's outdoor product range has a great reputation for wide response and great sound. We knew the R.5s would give us plenty of level and even coverage wit

UAE - Melody House, sole distributor of Primacoustic in the Middle East, has recently supplied the American University in Dubai (AUD) with London 12 room kit acoustic panels and solution.

The Primacoustic London 12 room kit is a high performance studio kit which delivers professional sound and great looks AUD equipped its new editing suites - five rooms in total - within the Visual Communication department with these kits. In order to give the rooms the best acoustic solution, the university has used five London 12" room kits, six 1" Scatter Block Panels and ten 2" Control Column Panels.

The AUD Visual Communication Department aims to remain at the forefront of design/art education in the region, providing an educational model that addresses and assesses the market needs in relation to contemporary design/art global trends. The Department runs several studios, l

Australia - Canberra Airport, recently named 'Australia's Airport of the Year', features an innovative AV installation from Rutledge AV that utilises Tannoy's digital beam steering technology.

In recent times, Canberra Airport has invested a total of $480m on a complete redevelopment of its terminal precinct. This redevelopment, termed 'AirVolution', is the largest private sector investment in Canberra's history and has delivered a world-class terminal in Australia's capital that covers 55,000sqm. The environmentally friendly building has been recently honoured by a number of industry awards, including twice being named Australia's Airport of the Year.

Rutledge AV was commissioned to design, install and deliver the Western Concourse Public Address and Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System (EWIS) for Stage 2 of Canberra Airport. This system would also need to integrat

UK - A Grade II listed building in the centre of Nottingham, 50 Shakespeare Street was purchased in 2012 by Nottingham Trent University, since when it has undergone works to restore many key listed features as well as enjoying a complete internal refurbishment.

In recent times POLARaudio has established a strong connection with NTU. A recent installation at its Brackenhurst Library site prompted the university to contact the company with a view to tackling issues of sound-reinforcement and supplying conferencing solutions at its recently acquired site. The restoration of a listed building under the watchful gaze of English Heritage is a process that demands great care and sensitivity and a proven track record in designing systems for such sites further enhanced POLARaudio's credentials.

Roche AV, with whom POLARaudio already had a productive working relationship, was engaged t

USA - Severn School is among the largest and most august private schools in the nation. Situated midway between Baltimore and Annapolis in Maryland, Severn School was founded in 1914 as a preparatory school for the U.S. Navy. Today, it serves 800 students from kindergarten to twelfth grade. In recent years, Severn School has been updating its buildings and grounds, including new turf fields for football, field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse adjacent to the new Edward St. John Athletic Center.

For a few years after their installation, the school used a portable system for every football game, a solution that proved to be of low quality and, moreover, quite a hassle. Severn School called on Baltimore-based A/V contractor HP Electronics to design and install a permanent system. Citing their value and sound quality, HP Electronics installed an Ashly MX-206 six-channel microphone mixer

UK - The ABTT has issued a statement following the update issued by Westminster City Council into the Apollo Theatre Investigation.

"The Association of British Theatre Technicians has been leading on the development of advice to theatre owners concerning Suspended Fibrous Plaster ceilings in theatres for most of 2014. A group of experts was convened following the request for further guidance to be added to Technical Standards for Places of Entertainment.

"Now in the final stages of consultation with various stakeholders, the ABTT expects that this comprehensive guidance will be published in February 2014 in the form of a specific Guidance Note, which it understands will be adopted by the Health and Safety Executive as well as becoming a substantial addition to Technical Standards.

"The advice will call for an initial joint survey by both a structural engineer

UK - Dance music magazine DJ Mag yesterday announced the results of its Best of Britain Awards, with first place in the Best Small Club category going to Audio in Brighton, beating venues such as Stealth in Nottingham and Corsica Studios in London to the prize.

Over the course of the summer of 2014 several promoters hired in Traction rigs for events where they required a superior sound to what was already installed, and the manager Robbie Whishaw and then owner John Holland were won over by the high clarity, big bass and high SPLs achieved from very few boxes. Discussions began to have new systems installed on both floors ready for Audio's 10th Anniversary celebrations on 12 September.

Before it was Audio, the venue was called The Escape and ruled Brighton's nightlife for 20 years. It's basement saw names such as The Stone Roses, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim and Daft Punk grac

USA - As it approached its hundred-year anniversary as a congregation, Highland Park Baptist Church in Columbia, Tennessee sought to revamp its four hundred-seat sanctuary. It hired Church Interiors of High Point, North Carolina to help design and organize the work, which included structural and aesthetic improvements, as well as a new Sharp/Extron video system based around three huge LED screens and a cutting-edge sound reinforcement system.

Now, Danley Sound Labs horn-loaded loudspeakers and subwoofers deliver musical and highly intelligible sound, with power and processing supplied by rock-solid Ashly Audio amplifiers and digital signal processors. The sound system is zero compromise, exceeding Highland Park's hopes for fidelity and quality while still meeting their budgetary requirements.

"Highland Park's old sound system had an undersized sixteen-channel board and fr

Poland - The National Theatre in Warsaw is one of the most important theatrical venues in Poland, dating back to the 18th century. So when the theatre decided to upgrade the old stage management system, Green-Go was the intercom system of choice chosen to create a party line network communication system.

Piotr Jankiewicz who is director of design and integration at Konsbud Audio, the company contracted to install the new system said, "The stage management system covers four stages located in two buildings which are separated by a street, under which is a mini stage located in the passage between the buildings. It was vital that we installed a system that guaranteed communication between all technical work stations. It had to be so much more than a straight forward intercom system."

The new system needed to be able to provide wired and wireless connection, party line

UK - When London's Royal Opera House decided to measure the electricity consumption of the Linbury Studio's stage lighting equipment, they opted for a MeasureMyEnergy system, provided by industry consultancy :entertaining sustainability. The modular nature of the MeasureMyEnergy system proved ideal for monitoring 36 key circuits across two separately located major distribution boards to monitor - plus mains incomers at 630 Amps per phase.

Tim Atkinson, technical director at :entertaining sustainability, said: "After a site visit to establish exactly what needed measuring, we put together a package that allowed the Lighting Systems Team to monitor the electrical consumption of the Linbury Studio in real time over the internet."

A 12- or 24-channel Power Distribution Monitor (PDM) with network access sits alongside each distribution board, with current clamps feeding d

The Netherlands - Opened in 1887, Amsterdam's Koninklijk Theater Carré (Royal Theatre Carré) has played host to circuses, vaudeville, one-man shows, revues, plays, operas, operettas and musicals. Completely renovated in 2004, the venue has continued hosting a wide range of events to the present day. The ongoing demand meant a major upgrade of its audio system became necessary, with a Yamaha CL digital mixing system the chosen solution.

With a lot of main productions now running in the theatre for longer periods than before, the management wanted the flexibility to host smaller morning or afternoon productions on the front of the stage. This would allow two or more events to be run on each day - the main part of the stage containing the set for the evening's production being unused during the day.

"Koninklijk Theater Carré is one of Amsterdam's most fa

UK - One of London's most famous places of worship, St Martin-In-The-Fields, has a long history of opening its doors to people from all faiths and walks of life - or indeed no faith at all. Welcoming 750,000 visitors every year to church services, events and music performances, a Yamaha QL1 digital mixing console is at the heart of its newly-upgraded audio system.

The church also occupies a special place in broadcast history, having made the very first religious broadcast, and it continues to broadcast to people around the world. Working with a knowledgeable partner to upgrade the church's audio system is essential to ensure such a variety of audiences are able to fully share in the church's mission. This is why, when the church put the project for a new audio system out to tender, SFL Group's extensive portfolio of worship installations meant that the company was a natural invi

USA - Emmanuel Baptist Pastor Wade Burleson described the results of Paragon 360's recent renovation project at his church in Enid, Oklahoma - by saying "Paragon hit a homerun with this one". To extend the baseball analogy a step further, one impressive result of that renovation is that Emmanuel Baptist can now make the transition from a traditional service with a choir to a band-led contemporary service in about the same time it takes Major League teams to complete one innings of play.

Springfield, MO-based Paragon 360 accomplished this feat at the 35-year old-church by adding new architectural elements and upgrading the audio, video and rigging system, in addition to installing an impressive collection of lighting fixtures from Chauvet Professional. As a result of these changes (and the hard work of church staff) Emmanuel Baptist is now able to change its sanctuary s

Australia - Video services and expertise from TDC (Technical Direction Company) wowed audiences across the world in Visions of Vienna - a multi-media artistic collaboration between the Vienna Tourist Board and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra live in concert was combined with visuals celebrating the artistic and musical heritage of Vienna from Ample Projects and projected onto the roof or "sails" of the Sydney Opera House and broadcast to music lovers across the world in a live web-stream. The event took place on Wednesday, 4 February 2015.

"Having worked with Michael Hassett and his expert projection design team already back in the 90's we knew we could turn to TDC again for another unforgettable visual spectacular. TDC are a dream-team to work with," enthused Astrid Mulholland-Licht, director of the Austrian National Tou

UK - Theatre consultancy, Theatreplan has been appointed as the theatre consultant on the major redevelopment project at Glasgow's historic Citizens Theatre. Built in 1878, the Grade II listed theatre has seen a number of small-scale refurbishments and extensions, but the current scheme is the most comprehensive in its history.

The project has been earmarked for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Glasgow City Council, Creative Scotland and Historic Scotland that go a long way towards financing the transformations, which are far-reaching.

Mathew Smethurst-Evans, who is leading the Theatreplan team, explained, "This is a major project that incorporates significant improvements to the environment for both visitors and staff. Visitors will benefit from much improved public spaces to create a venue where they can experience much more than a theatre show. There will be pur

Russia - Black Cat Music recently installed a Diva Acoustical Shell system in Moscow's Nazarov Musical Theatre.

In a competitive tender, Black Cat Music's Berlin based team won the contract in the face of tough international competition. Originally built for the Moscow Olympic Games of 1980, the Nazarov Musical Theatre has recently undergone a major refurbishment. The revival in fortunes for the theatre, located within the Olympic Games legacy site, began when it became part of the Moscow State Philharmony in 2014. A requirement of the building overhaul was an upgrade for the auditorium acoustics, with an acoustic shell being specified by Moscow State Philharmony.

With the contract awarded, the Berlin based project team of Paula Ulrich and Tim Ehrlich worked to increasingly tight time scales while also accommodating client changes to the final dimensions of the Diva shell. Tha

The Netherlands - Tannoy is introducing two additions to the the QFlex range, specifically engineered to offer fully optimised solutions for life safety applications.

Tannoy has developed the new QFlex Life Safety (LS) models as a cost effective solution for critical, life safety applications, a solution that balances complex power consumption needs with the high performance and intelligibility that is the core of the proven QFlex range. The new models have an optimised driver placement and improved current draw, making them suitable for applications where emergency voice alarms or communications may be required.

The new QFlex 16LS and QFlex 32LS column loudspeakers are designed primarily for large transportation hubs as part of a PA/VA system where speech is the main audio source, either from live announcements or via pre-recorded message. These new QFlex life safety models a

UK - PRS for Music, the organisation that represents over 100,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, has chosen PMC loudspeakers for the listening room in its new offices in Kings Cross, London.

PRS for Music relocated to Two Pancras Square at the end of 2014. Moving to this prestigious new building gave the organisation the opportunity to create a working environment that was ideally suited to its needs. Part of that process involved installing a dedicated listening room that could be used for any critical listening tasks, including judging entries for the annual Ivor Novello Awards, which celebrate the best British music writing.

PRS for Music director and Music Producers Guild Chairman Steve Levine was responsible for the listening room project and for the choice of PMC monitors. As a multi-platinum music producer, Levine has crafted hits for artists such as The B

France - Sono 64 Événements, the NEXT-proaudio's distributor in France, recently designed the sound system for Discotheque Les Vôutes, located in Paris.

The sound system was needed to achieve high sound pressure levels, high quality sound to join the concept of Les Vôutes, an intimate club inspired on the ancestral and historical cellars with exposed stone walls.

The club has a long dancefloor atmosphere, several rooms under the arches welcoming conformable booths and tables. The Sono 64 Événements team designed the system using the X-Line, MA series, LMS Series and DP Series from NEXT-proaudio, comprising four X15, 10 X10, four X8, six XH18, and two Xs15. The whole system is powered by MA3200 and MA3800. The whole system is controlled by four NEXT DP240 and fourLMS-242.

(Jim Evans)

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