Officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen, the inspirational mix of outside and inside space includes an Auditorium, two technology-rich Exploration Labs, a Multimedia Room, featuring three fully specific editing stations with 60-inch preview monitoring, Seminar Training Room and the Seminar Block and Group Study Room - as well as a new Student Services Centre, refurbished library, retail and catering outlets.
Sir Robert Mcalpine, main contractor to the University of Exeter, commissioned GV Multi-media Ltd with the challenging task of providing and integrating the vast AV system in the Forum. Working to tight timescales (since the opening needed to form part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations), and to a specification put together by consultants Buro Happold, the jewel in the crown is the 404-seat Alumni Auditorium, featuring high quality projection and audio systems.
For this they were helped in no small part by the Harman Pro tools provided by UK and Eire distributors, Sound Technology. These included products from the Crown, dbx and JBL cinema portfolio, constructed around a BSS Soundweb digital network.
Designed for ultimate flexibility of content, including musical presentations and cinema-quality screening of films, the Alumni Auditorium benefits from a fully-integrated industry-standard specification, including HD widescreen projection, IPTV streaming and videoconferencing - all operating under Crestron control.
All audio within the Auditorium is transported through CobraNet protocol devices - including BSS Soundweb DSP and streamed to appropriate areas via a pair of high-performance Ethernet switches installed in a separate remote amplifier rack.
The JBL speaker set up is impressive in terms of functionality as well as its aesthetics. The suite features Crown CTs-powered JBL ScreenArray cinema range cabinets, housed flush to the screen, to accommodate the left, right and centre channels - and an ARS (Assisted Reverb System) as part of a 7.1 surround system.
Elsewhere, the first Exploration Lab also boasts a full AV spec with the audio passed into a DSP processor to allow routing, via a Crown CTs 600 power amplifier, to a pair of JBL CBT 100LA line array column speakers - also providing record outputs for an Echo360 lecture capture.
In the Exploration Labs' Group Study room, complete with ten 60-inch wall-mounted flat panel displays, the in-room audio is provided by four further JBL CBT 100LA's - one in each corner of the room.
Helping to realise the university's vision were GV's National Technical Manager, Daniel Victory, and divisional director, Richard Watts. According to the former, JBL's 'next generation' ScreenArray loudspeaker system was implemented to satisfy the varied needs of the flexible space, including musical performances from solo singers to orchestral pieces to operatics - as well as day-to-day presentations and cinema surround applications. "The JBL ScreenArray series offers the fidelity and high performance necessary for all of these applications, with the audio carefully controlled, routed, equalised, crossed-over and limited by the powerful Soundweb London DSP," Daniel explained.
The Soundweb network itself is built around a pair of BLU-800s, offering a total of 24in x 12out with a combination of standard and AEC input cards, for the routing and processing, an 8-input BLU-32 in the lectern for source audio and lectern microphone with phantom power, a 4U mobile stagebox comprising a BLU-320 (16in) and BLU-BOB2 breakout (offering an additional eight outputs) with XLR patch-rail; this was connected using the highly cost-effective BSS BLU-Link fault tolerant buss to minimise the CobraNet requirement.
A BLU-32 (12-out) in the amplifier rack drives the stack of three CTs 6
