The new MA Noble, Don Bradman and Dally Messenger Stands host a huge range of multifunction and hospitality spaces including a micro-brewery, 14 bars, banquet hall, dining room and corporate entertainment suites. The operational side includes extensive new outside broadcast and media facilities as well as multimedia-enabled coaching and training rooms.
Designed and built by The P.A. People, the new stand's bowl sound system consists of eight main clusters of JBL AE Series loudspeakers, augmented with delays where necessary, and powered by Crown CTs Series power amplifiers. The PA mix position remains in level seven of the Brewongle stand, where system processing is through a BSS Blu DSP unit. The P.A. People expanded the existing processor's tasks, adding new control pages to the PC interface used for overall control of the system. Additional BSS Blu units were added to process audio in the new stand's FOH and BOH areas.
Significant new network capability was a core goal of the new build. A fibre optic network was deployed in the new stands, with links back to the Brewongle stand. All in all, 95 spaces in the Noble, Bradman and Messenger stands are fully wired into the network. With the existing processing and amplification infrastructure already using CobraNet, The P.A. People seamlessly connected new processors and amplifiers to the existing network over the fibre. Just to be sure, a back-up copper feed was run between the stands.
The SCG's combination of heritage buildings and state-of-the-art facilities requires care and attention when integrating the old with the new. The new stand's PA system had to be set-up so that it matched the existing systems tonally and created a seamless listening experience for the crowd.
"The new stands are taller," explained Josh Jones, project manager at The P.A. People, "so we had to realign our delays across the stadium. The new stands have become the PA's zero point. The other stands have had their delays time aligned to suit. You can now walk from one stand to another and not notice any anomalies due to the height differences of the speakers in relation to the seats."
Aesthetics were also a major consideration. Not wanting any unsightly loudspeakers impeding the view, the stand's rooves were cleverly designed to incorporate the PA clusters in a series of recesses. "We had to co-ordinate with the builder and hang the PA clusters up into their niches" continued Josh. "Our aim was to make the speakers look like part of the roof."
Greg DeAndrade, project manager for the design and construction electrical contractor - Barnwell Cambridge said: "The P.A. People worked with us to achieve an excellent outcome, which has seen the 2014 football season completed and now stands ready for a summer of cricket events."
(Jim Evans)
