Lauded by the New York Times as a lesson on how to connect the eye to heart and mind, the Guerin Pavilion combines exceptional versatility and high aesthetics and features a state-of-the art AV system in which Tannoy's Dual Concentric loudspeakers are integral components.
"The Dual Concentric design originally comes from our studio monitors from back in the day," says Dudley McLaughlin, consultant manager, install and tour, North America, for TC Group. And the intelligibility and musicality they offer is a huge part of why they're used when clarity is critical.
The bulk of the Tannoy loudspeakers used in the project were deployed in the facility's 9166sq.ft ballroom; a distinctive and highly flexible space ideal for conferences, corporate gatherings and celebrations of virtually any description.
"It's a complicated space meant to fulfill many roles," says Corey Salvatore, CTS, senior consultant at Acentech, designers of the venues audiovisual, architectural acoustics and IT systems. "The ballroom can be partitioned into three spaces or a combination thereof and there are four meeting rooms on the third floor above it, for smaller events, or for overflow for events taking place in the ballroom."
Mr. Salvatore worked closely with project architect Belinda Valenti (then Associate Principle of Safdie Architects) to ensure the seamless integration of the audiovisual elements into the architecture of the space.
In all, eight rows of five Tannoy VX 12HP loudspeakers running the length of the ballroom are mounted on truss suspended from the ceiling and concealed from the audience by decorative, aluminium elements. The VX 12s are time aligned so when the entire ballroom is in use the sound appears to be coming from the stage end of the room. They are also zoned to optimize coverage and eliminate feedback when the ballroom is partitioned, Mr. Salvatore says.
"We specified the VX 12s because we needed intelligible audio with full-range response there are no sub woofers. The speakers are used for reproducing speech as well as music for the various events taking place on any given day. There's a glass wall running the length of the ballroom, so we had to be careful to minimize any unwanted reflections in the space. The limitations that presented led us to the VX 12 because they have a very defined coverage pattern, allowed us to control the audio and eliminate spill-over onto adjacent surfaces."
Additionally, two Tannoy CMS 501DCs and two iw 6TDCs were installed in the meeting rooms for use during events held in those spaces or in tandem with the VX 12s. The iw 6s are mounted behind acoustic panels, which have a cut-out for a video display, keeping them visually unobtrusive. It's a very high aesthetic space throughout and the iw and CMS allowed us to get quality audio and full frequency range without sacrificing aesthetics, Mr. Salvatore says. Like the ballroom, these spaces also have a glass wall on one side and the iws wide and controlled dispersion pattern helped eliminate reflections.
Other elements include a Biamp Tesira audio DSP platform for providing the audio processing and routing, Crown amplifiers to drive the loudspeakers, wireless Crestron control and http://www.acentech.com a variety of input and playback options in each space.
(Jim Evans)
