Where there’s Hope, there’s an AV solution
Having closed its doors to film-goers in 2005, an iconic Art Deco cinema in Ipswich has reopened as a house of worship. While the before and after entertainment technologies employed within the 2,870m2 venue are comparable on many levels, the similarities end there following a three-year period of redevelopment. The task of swapping out cinema projector systems and LCR Dolby-certified loudspeakers in the two main screen rooms for LED screens and stereo line array modules fell to York-based integrator Rock-tech. To fulfil its client’s wishes, the AV and lighting specialist quickly asserted itself into the role of general contractor.
In contrast to the declining demand for ticket sales that the cinema had experienced before its closure, Hope Church had outgrown its former industrial unit home of 21 years in nearby Fore Hamlet. With a desire to better serve the town and the general community, the former Odeon site located on St Margaret’s Street next to the Regent Theatre, ticked the primary “location, location, location” box. An application in 2006 for the site to be transformed for leisure use into a nightclub, bowling alley and restaurants never came to fruition.
“We wanted to relocate to a place where our family – as a church – could grow,” comments lead pastor, Tom Scrivens. In 2018, the planners accepted the application for a house of worship. “It’s a building that matters to a lot of people, so we wanted to make it good by helping and serving a lot more people.” In addition to the large area dedicated for worship, the former Odeon building includes multiple-use rooms, kindergartens and cafeterias.
With an ability to serve as a community hub and accommodate growth in its new central location, the church is seeking to increase its appeal across all demographics. Although the committee favoured AV and lighting technology that would not exclude a senior audience by appearing too ostentatious, a high-tech system was specified for events and services. A less technical approach in favour of what the technology could facilitate led to ease-of-use and futureproofing designs becoming primary considerations.
“Hope contacted us initially following a recommendation by one of our main clients, Audacious,” comments Rock-tech MD, Kieran Scotchbrook. Based in Manchester, Audacious is a vibrant house of worship that is at home in a converted warehouse. “When we arrived onsite in 2019 to conduct the demo of the loudspeakers and LED displays in the old cinema, the disused screening room was completely black without electrical points.”
Having fed an electrical extension into the main level two screen room and demonstrated both an Eden LED display and Hill Pro Audio loudspeaker system, Rock-tech was commissioned to supply, design and install the AV and lighting into the main auditorium.
“Although most aspects of the old cinema had been stripped out, some old fittings together with the décor were still in place, including some popcorn in an old dispenser,” Scotchbrook recalls from his first site visit. “To enable the technologies, we knew that we would need to conduct numerous building works. First and foremost, we needed someone to remove the dividing partition between the two old screen rooms. Following additional interior works, the church then commissioned us to work on all the other rooms, including toilets and offices.”
The four-hour journey from York to Ipswich was eased following the assignment of two of Rock-tech’s experienced recruits located in nearby Norwich. Although Rowyn Rawlinson and Cuan Hope suggested the removal of steel structures close to the stage to provide a clear line of sight, the main steel partition running through the centre remains. The raked floor of the main screen rooms was replaced with elevated flooring, inadvertently creating storage space under the stage. “We are an AV company by trade, so we recommended local specialists for some of Hope’s more construction-based requests. However, we removed the glass balustrades, built stud walls, installed a disability ramp and installed a baptism pool at the front to the right of the stage.”
The contract coincided with the onset of the 2020 pandemic, and so government restrictions and disrupted supply chains inevitably resulted in delays and unforeseen obstacles. Fortunately, they had Matt Cornish on their side. The Hope Church operations manager took on the role of project manager during the entire construction phase and served as Rock-tech’s sole point of contact from day one.
“Matt was a highly effective conduit role between the church elders and the various contractors,” explains Scotchbrook. “He really was the ‘go-to’ man for everything. Whether we needed to change plans or came across a problem, we were able to work closely with Matt throughout the process. He was highly organised with excellent communication skills. Our life onsite was made so much easier as Matt always informed us of any updates and changes to plans.”
Measuring 28m x 17m (WxD), the landscape-orientated venue has received extensive acoustic treatment. Perforated plasterboard and rockwool were added throughout the auditorium as well as acoustic boards, diffusers and absorbers. In addition to the rockwool treatment, Rock-tech further installed lateral wave walls and a quattro acoustic band to control and manage reflections. RGB LED lighting is concealed behind the angled deflectors running along the length of the side walls.
“Following simulations and modelling using Hill Pro Audio’s ACT software, the wide nature of the auditorium dictated a bespoke loudspeaker design,” explains Scotchbrook. With its high output, intelligibility and modular design, Hill Pro Audio’s M10 loudspeaker sufficiently impressed the church elders during the initial demonstration. Weighing 18.2kg and measuring 160mm in height, the diminutive M10 distinguished itself with its wide dispersion characteristics.
The unique quad 5-inch design is capable of producing a maximum SPL of 136dB within an 80Hz–20kHz frequency spectrum. Suspended from overhead trussing, four hangs each comprising three M10 cabinets deliver even dispersion across the 700-capacity listening area. The controlled 140° wide-angled dispersion offered by the M10 distributes acoustic energy to the seats. By adjusting the rear “link-and-pin” hardware, precise vertical coverage ensures acoustic directivity onto the rear wall of the 4.8m-high auditorium is avoided.
Positioned on the curved lip of the stage, four free-standing M2 dual 5-inch speakers offer front fill enhancement. Integrated neatly into the fascia of the stage, four double 18-inch MS218 subwoofers enhance the lower frequencies down to 30Hz (±4dB). The Class-A/B self-powered sub-bass enclosures are fixed into precisely constructed 500mm x 1,200mm (HxW) apertures and connected to the racked dbx DriveRack Venu 360 processors.
Having raised the floor level, a standing-room storage area with the equipment rack has been created below the stage. Sharing the rack with the dbx processors, five Hill Pro Audio Hi-Z4000 dual-channel amplifiers provide ample headroom to the 12 M10 and four M2 speakers. Cat6 cabling connects the various inputs and outputs through a wide conduit under the suspended floor to a Behringer X32 digital mixing surface in the main FOH control area. Power distribution is centralised at the same location with one button operation for switching on and turning off all the equipment in sequence.
To the benefit of the performers, the lateral walls enclosing the 6m x 8m (DxW) stage have been treated with acoustic absorbers. Finished in black, the walls and the ceiling above the stage discreetly conceal the overhead trusses and fixtures. A facility panel onstage provides six XLR connections for the IEMs and Radial DI boxes connecting the guitars.
The singers rely on seven Sennheiser e935 handheld transmitters paired to racked ew G4 receivers located at FOH. Wireless signal transmission is assured with the addition of two ASA 214 active splitter antennas, each connected to ADA 20 UHF boosters. The pastor differentiates himself during sermons by using a DPA DP4266 omni flex headset transmitter. The wireless IEM transmitters onstage receive their UHF signal input from four dedicated ew G4 receivers in the same FOH rack via an AC 41 active antenna combiner. “We chose Sennheiser for their sound quality and for the fact that they offer bulletproof reliability,” explains Scotchbrook. In between services and performances, the hand-held mics are stored in a FOH drawer fitted with “baked-in chargers”.
Managed by an Eden broadcast controller, three Eden PTZPRO cameras fitted with Sony optics are fixed to the rear wall, the structural steel division and the rising edge of the right wall of the main stage. Selected for their ease-of-use functionality, the audience stage views are enhanced without large camera platforms crossing sightlines. Together with an Apple iMac Pro, the three 1080p HD signal inputs are routed to a Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio Pro HD live production switcher.
The resultant images are then output to two 3.5m x 2m (WxH) Eden LED displays in the auditorium, in addition to a network of 16 Samsung HD displays throughout Hope Centre via SDI connection. Positioned on the front wall on either side of the stage, the two wall-mounted 3.9mm pixel LED displays provide a visual enhancement for the seats furthest from the stage. A Novastar MCTRL 660 LED controller and an eight-input LED 550D series Magnimage scaler provide full LED processing. Connected to the cameras and switchers, a Teradek Vidiu X hardware encoder broadcasts live video from the services and events to multiple remote streaming platforms in HD resolution.
From the surface of a compact QuickQ 20 lighting control surface, volunteers can easily dim or turn the lights on and off. Any one of 10 recall positions can be selected to best suit the ambience or event, including baptism services. Chauvet Professional overhead fixtures include a combination of Rogue R2 LED spots and washes, COREpar 80 USB and COLORband PiX USB linear LED wash lights complemented by five ADJ 150S Z8-50 Fresnels. “The power-saving LEDs are so easy to operate,” explains Scotchbrook. “The cleaner can turn the house lights on from the wall plate and the volunteers can override this from the QuickQ 20 control desk.”
The three pre-existing smaller screen rooms on the ground level have been converted and partitioned into seven smaller breakout spaces. Enhancing their flexible, ease-of-setup credentials for various events, these rooms are largely devoid of furnishings and decoration. A larger conference facility room can accommodate up to 150 seated people for events and is also used for the Ignite-Blaze-Illuminate (IBI) group for children aged 6–11 on Sundays. Glow and Shine kindergarten rooms welcome the 1–2 and 3–5 age groups, while the Youth room is used for Youth Services each Sunday in addition to other events. Served by local HDMI inputs, several 75-inch wall-mounted Samsung displays connect to stereo wall-mounted speakers.
The corridors and stairs connecting the rooms on all three levels together with the foyer, offices, toilets and cafeterias are divided into four public address zones. Powered by a single Clever SL3120 four-channel amplifier in the ground-floor control room, a distributed network of ceiling speakers operates in 100V line mode. From this location, the operations manager can also make zoned announcements from an Audac MPX48 voice controller.
At the heart of this system, an Audac MTX48 four-zone matrix enhances ease-of-use control for designated users, including full-time church administrator Jenny Greenwood. Zoned volume control and sourcing of Spotify playlists, local inputs or the auditorium feed can be output from the interface of a mobile phone over Wi-Fi with the downloaded Audac Touch App.
The ease-of-use features befitting the straightforward AV and lighting design belie the detailed works that have been undertaken by Rock-tech in its execution of the installation. “The user-friendly interfaces are simple to operate for volunteers but, as they become more creative and gain more confidence, increasingly complex features and functionality can be accessed,” confirms Greenwood.
In addition to training the volunteers and providing them with the confidence to take ownership of the technology, Rock-tech has also created learner manuals and tutorials for newcomers. Hope Centre has reciprocated by providing Rock-tech with a notable chapter in its own growing book of satisfied customers.
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