The new building covers an area of 12,000m². Its main space - dubbed The Dome - seats 2000, with a second room holding 450. Central to the design is a high quality audio network - needed to provide sound reinforcement for services and other events, as well as to allow De Levende Steen to broadcast its Saturday morning service on Dutch national television channel SBS6 and to record services for future use.
"People come from all over the Netherlands and from Belgium," says the church's technical manager Rens van Reenen. "The old building was too small to accommodate everyone who wants to come, so we had no choice but to move to somewhere bigger. But building a new church meant that it could be designed precisely for our needs, including the AV facilities."
Architect Han Kluijver designed the new building. "It is a different kind of church," he says. "There is never a moment of silence, there is always laughter, singing and a lot of music. Because of that, I designed it more as a theatre than a church."
Rens and his three fellow audio technicians were happy with the O2R96 mixing console they had in the old building meant and knew the many advantages of Yamaha digital mixers. The enhanced flexibility and audio quality of the CL series led to them specifying a Dante network throughout the building, plus a CL3 console and Rio 3224-D and 1608-D i/o units. All A/V equipment was supplied and installed by Smash Sound, with the Yamaha equipment purchased through dealer Sales All.
The CL3 is installed at a conventional front of house position in the Dome, although it can easily be moved to any point in the building, thanks to the Dante network. The Rio3224-D is installed in the backstage wireless receiver rack and the Rio1608-D on stage. Meanwhile the O2R96 is still in constant use, fitted with MY16-AUD interface cards and used in the church's mobile video studio.
"We have used Yamaha equipment for a long time, starting on a very small scale many years ago," says Rens. "We chose Yamaha again because the equipment is pleasant to work with and it has never let us down. We are very impressed with the CL series - with the audio quality, ease of use and the flexibility that the Dante network and extensive onboard processing provide."
Nominated for the annual Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) Building of the Year prize, De Levende Steen's new building ensures that the church will not have to move again for some time. And with it being simple to expand the Dante network and add new Yamaha equipment, the audio system is thoroughly future-proofed as well.
(Jim Evans)
