Technical Arts chooses K-array for Glaziers Hall
- Details
Beyond the bare brick walls of the venue flows the Thames, while within the acoustically challenging space, an almost invisible K-array solution delivers smooth and precise audio coverage.
Previously a back-of-house zone, the newly transformed space is the seventh function area available for hire within Glaziers Hall, offering three long, arched vaults where original bricks are complimented by minimalist architectural lighting. At the far end of the vaults are the stones that adjoin the river, while to the right, visitors can gaze through three hermetically sealed windows at one of the British capital’s best-appointed wine cellars. The overall effect is unlike anywhere else in the city.
“The building is actually Grade II listed – the floor is actually all original Yorkstone paving from 1808, and we are on a raft in the Thames,” explains Glaziers Hall managing director, Samantha Enstone. “Our vision was to convert and use more riverside space and create a unique environment using the walls from 1808. But of course part of the challenge was to achieve the right balance of sound in an entirely brick, underground and very reverberant chamber.”
The company charged with delivering on that vision was lighting and sound specialist Technical Arts, whose founder and managing director, Chris Filippidis, has played a key role in shaping the building across a number of years. “Glaziers Hall is a long standing client of Technical Arts,” he explains. “Before this current phase of work, we have been involved in the lighting systems throughout the building, and now Samantha and her team have requested that we deliver a quality audio installation to reflect this new exciting space.”
Technical Arts project manager, Martin Tarpy reports, “The architect, Andrew Lock of Lyn Atelier, provided the drawings and we instantly knew that we needed an audio solution that could provide highly intelligible coverage for BGM whilst remaining unseen by guests. This isn’t the kind of place where you can just put boxes on the wall. I’d previously heard K-array speakers when I visited with 2B Heard, and they seemed to be exactly the right solution.”
Visitors to the Arches descend into the space via a two short flights of stone steps, then find themselves in the central vault. A long wooden raft, suspended from the ceiling, acts as a counterpoint to the stone and brickwork while also providing a home for lighting fixtures and extremely compact, well-hidden K-array Tornado-KT2C 2” speakers. To the left and right, two further vaults boast wooden rafts of their own, each housing four Tornado-KT2C speakers, for a total of 12 throughout the venue.
Low-end support for the distributed system is via three Rumble-KU26 subwoofers, all hidden behind custom grates to appear as though they are part of the ventilation system. Signal distribution is via a Cloud Z4 mk4 zone mixer, with wall-plates positioned throughout the venue, while the loudspeaker system is powered and processed by a single K-array Kommander-KA24.
(Jim Evans)
