Divided into three spaces, the three-year-old church includes a small downstairs chapel and community area, including crèche and catering. However, it was the 1,500-seat main room - set within the shell of the Odeonesque art deco church - that Martin Hawthorn's company was asked to upgrade, in order to provide additional functionality.
For sound reinforcement, they selected exclusively Martin Audio components - and provided a cabling infrastructure for future expansion, as well as over 100 ways of audio patching, a 72-channel Allen & Heath ML500) desk, fully-specified outboard rack and 18 radio mics to accommodate the large scale band and choir. The emphasis was on discretion to maintain the look of the listed building, and thus a conventional, eight-box Martin Audio W8C left/right stack is concealed behind perforated video screens as the main PA system.
"Originally we had planned to use flown delays," explained Martin Hawthorn, "but when we provided a Martin system for their New Year event, we found it worked a treat without since the W8C projected effortlessly to the back of the church." For the low frequencies, Hawthorn also specified six Martin Audio WS2A subs - concealed under the stage in two batches of three - while a further two Martin LE400JB floor monitors are hidden under grilles in the forestage.
Additional stage sound is provided in the form of a further four Martin Audio Blackline F12s for the choir and four flown F15s for the band, with five W0.5 wedges to infill on the moving band stage truck. The system is powered by a combination of QSC 2402s and 3402s, while processing includes a quantity of Sabine Feedback Eliminators and Drawmer 4-channel gates. Mics include Sennheiser drum kit mics, Sony radios and Shure hand-helds, whilst the system processing is via XTA. Induction loop amplification is also provided for the hard of hearing. In addition to its live presentations, the New Wine Church operates with a variety of audio and video playback sources, including minidisc and CD, as well as VHS.
Hawthorn Theatrical also provided the lighting and some of the multimedia, including four projectors - two 7700-lumen Sanyo XF41s, projecting onto the 4 x 3m perforated screens and two XP41s (3,300 lumens) onto rear projection screens. The lighting is controlled from an Avolites Pearl, running 72-channels of Zero 88 Chilli dimmers and a Chillinet system - which provides the same dimmers for house lights, working lights and neon features. While generic lighting includes Source Fours, blinders, Par cans and fresnels, a distro system will allow the church to expand into intelligent lighting at a later stage.
On the engineering front Hawthorn designed and commissioned a motorized truss, which is flown at front of house with art deco trim no less to complement the building. To address the shortage of space, two motorized trucks are used to deliver the band and choir on and off the stage, while a curved motorized festoon curtain provides mid drapes and a rear gold foil decorative drape is positioned in front of a starcloth.
Martin Hawthorn believes his company has delivered the ideal solution. "We managed to reduce the colossal reverb time in the building by introducing a carpet, and we also introduced DI boxes, since the band had previously been plugging straight into the mixer. We achieved a lot at that New Year's Eve event and were able to form an instant bond with the client."
(Ruth Rossington)
