Homerton College

Challenges

The acoustic consultants had paid a lot of attention to the materials selected for the dining hall, and so the speaker system design had to satisfy the architects’ requirement to blend against the light ash wood panels that line the triforium and are gently angled to receive light and reduce potential reverberation issues.

Locations for speaker placements were also limited to positions well above head height, together with a strict requirement that subwoofers not be seen.

The Solution

An initial audio system design was prepared by 2B Heard director Dave Wooster who mapped the room using K-FRAMEWORK acoustical simulation software, and following planning meetings with the architects and client was further refined and handed over to Andrew Pymm, director of engineering at Whitwam AVI, to implement.

The 1,665 sq metre dining hall is covered by just eight Vyper-KV52 RAL colour-matched compact line arrays positioned on ball mount brackets at a height of 3.5 metres between the oak beams about 6 metres apart, six aimed towards the minstrel’s gallery and a further pair covering the top table. Two Rumble-KU26 subwoofers are installed behind custom grilles in opposite corners of the room, one concealed under a bench on the window side of the room and the other behind panelling at low level.

Two Kobra-KK52 line arrays and eight Tornado-KT2C ceiling mount speakers provide coverage of the Buttery supplemented by two Rumble-KU26 subwoofers, and two Vyper-KV52 line arrays are flush mounted behind custom grilles teamed up with a concealed Rumble-KU44 subwoofer in the reception area. Lapel and hand-held mics are conveniently connected via Sennheiser receivers, controlled by a Q-SYS audio processor from the equipment rack under the stars in the buttery and operated by Q-SYS touch screens in reception and the dining hall service area.

The K-array system has gone down well with Homerton’s IT team: “The speaker system was put in right at the end of the 24-month build and the installers had to work in the midst of the floor going in and the wall panels going up – there were 100 people doing 100 different jobs in a very small space. Our team had training on how to use the system and we took over responsibility from there. The system’s main use is for speeches and a little music background when required. Honestly, we all worried about such small speakers being up to the task, which is why subwoofers were added, but on the first demo the sound output was seriously impressive considering their size.”

Intelligibility could have been an issue given the volume of the 400-capacity dining hall but projection has proven to be excellent. Homerton’s IT manager commented: “We’ve had this room full of people with people chatting at the front – and this is also a testament to the natural acoustics – and you can hear perfectly from wherever you are in the room.”

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