The impressive new venue forms part of the Royal Concert Hall complex in the heart of Glasgow's vibrant city centre.
The new auditorium was developed by the Council's in-house design team led by architect Kerr Robertson. It is adjacent to the main Concert Hall (home of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra) which opened in 1990 as part of the city's year as European Capital of Culture.
The overall complex features a 600-seater auditorium, a rehearsal space and learning centre, a recital hall and performance space that will be also used for classical and choral recording as well as for folk and other amplified music events.
Following a detailed site survey and subsequent acoustic modelling of the new room, Adlib proposed the introduction of an L-Acoustics Kiva system complimented by SB15m and SB18i low-end speakers, with additional L-Acoustics XT Series speakers as in-fills where additional sound coverage was required. On appointment, Adlib liaised with the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall's in-house technical managers and also with ARUP.
The space is flexible with automated retractable seating, so the Kiva was chosen as an elegant, very lightweight modular line source solution offering great acoustic performance, intricate clarity and rich detail. Another benefit of using Kiva is that it can also have inter-cabinet angles altered to suit current and future tiered seating arrangements.
The flown system features 11x KIVA speakers a side with two SB18i flown subs a side, plus two SB15M ultra-compact bass extensions sitting at the top each Kiva array.
For stage and lip-fills, four 8XTs can be deployed and two 12XTs were specified for covering the 'platform' area which can include additional seats in the choir stalls position behind the stage, or they can be used as general left and right stage fills.
The Kiva system is driven by a combination of LA8 and LA4X amplifiers all featuring comprehensive on-board signal processing. A DiGiCo SD8/24 console is an integral part of the package along with D2 DiGiCo stage boxes.
The system was completed with the addition of a BSS London Architect network which includes a BLU-160 signal processor and all necessary cabling, power distribution racks & packaging, plus a small analogue A+H MixWizard desk. This is for use as a plug-in-and-go system for straightforward presentations utilising one or two mics for commentary during smaller orchestral recitals.
Adlib worked closely with Graeme Ironside and Nick Milnes from Glasgow Life, the organisation that manages all the council's cultural and sporting related activities, and directly with Iain Stirton of Carillion Plc, the building's appointed construction company.
"Working with Adlib was a pleasure" states Nick, "Everything was organised and efficient on site and the resulting sound system design is fantastic and is being enjoyed by all using it and listening to it."
(Jim Evans)
