The former Hippodrome Theatre and adjacent buildings have been transformed into The Hippodrome Casino by father and son team Jimmy and Simon Thomas, who have invested more than £40m creating a high-end, opulent casino, blending theatrical history with contemporary, luxurious furnishings.
The complex comprises three floors of gaming with the main gaming floor based in the original 60ft theatre atrium. What truly sets the venue apart is its further facilities, which include a 180-seat cabaret theatre, an impressive restaurant, four private dining rooms, five bars and a number of lounges and events spaces. With around 40 networked zones, Willow SoundVision carefully selected every audio product to be the best solution for the building and the multi-purpose way it is used.
One hundred and forty-six Community Distributed Design D4 ceiling loudspeakers, 22 DS5 surface mount loudspeakers and seven Community D10 ceiling Subs provide the main music and public address system for the gaming areas, restaurant, bars and event spaces. They were chosen for their audio quality and high intelligibility above ambient noise levels. Well controlled dispersion was also a critical factor in avoiding spill, as many zones are open to adjacent areas.
Fourteen Community VERIS 6T loudspeakers, six VERIS 26T loudspeakers and six VERIS 210S subwoofers were used for their powerful, high quality music ability in the lower ceiling height multi-purpose lounges. Symetrix SymNet provides the system networking and Media Technology Systems PAG amplifiers power the Community loudspeakers. Custom control software by Willow SoundVision allows complete system control via mobile phones or iPads.
(Jim Evans)
