Situated on 140 hectares bordering the picturesque Lac d'Ailette in Aisne, the creation of this state-of-the-art, eco-friendly leisure and relaxation experience, is a triumph for the collaborative work of the architects, engineers, operators - and Belgian-based sound, video and lighting contractor, AMPS, with their elaborately-designed QSC digital system solution.
Taking almost two years to construct at a cost of 260 million, the third Center Parcs village in France (and 17th in Europe) opened this Autumn in the heart of the Aisne forest. Sympathetic to the natural landscape, the site offers multiple water and land sport pursuits, convention centres and 861 individually-styled cottages - as well as five restaurants, four shops, a nightclub, bowling and live stage, all served by QSC audio components.
The design is based on a QSControl.net networked platform over CobraNet, powered by three BASIS 922uz units, and controlled by the first Venue Manager V3.0 in Europe, providing complete system management.
Each zone is fed from the main computer running QSControl.net, while the BASIS processors connect directly to the DataPort on selective QSC amplifiers, providing network control and monitoring of all amplifier functions.
The facilities serviced by QSC devices range from Le Spot, the highly-specified discotheque, and The Scene, a live stage under the teflon domed roof of the Winter Garden, to restaurants and cafés, sub-tropical swimming pool, indoor adventure playground, 10-lane bowling, supermarkets and general concourses.
The general areas are serviced by around 300 full-range AcousticDesign AD-S52-T and C152-ST loudspeakers, fed from five separate Maxx Music servers running Media Tools software, and powered by a combination of five QSC CX302V, four CX-602V and three CX-1202V 2-channel 70V line amplifiers.
Where a more muscular approach was required, AMPS has raised the bar. In Le Spot they have specified eight AD-S282H and four ModularDesign MD-L115's, all flown in horizontal mode to compensate for the low ceiling height, powered by a pair of PL230s and a PL236. And over at The Scene, QSC MD F152/94r loudspeakers, arrayed and bracketed together in trapezoidal 'wedge' clusters of four, either side of the stage, are complemented by four MD-L115 bass extension to provide near 360° dispersion - driven by a pair of PowerLight PL236 amps and 922az Basis.
(Jim Evans)
