Systems Integrator Keachie Electronics has provided client Lynnette Leisure with a flexible AV system to cope with an ever-expanding suite of venues in the heart of Glasgow, Scotland.
Systems Integrator Keachie Electronics has provided client Lynnette Leisure with a flexible AV system to cope with an ever-expanding suite of venues in the heart of Glasgow, Scotland.
Living the high life
In the trendy Royal Exchange Square area of Glasgow city centre, the Lynnette Leisure group has (not so) quietly been developing a mini-empire. The story began with the opening of the One Up Bar in December 2005. The second phase of development involved further venues in the same building, collectively making up the 29 private members club. The Network Bar, Oyster Bar, and accompanying private dining rooms are available to members for business meetings or just general relaxation. The project is on going, the latest to open is the Supper Club, a function room on the top floor, and by Christmas 2006, One Up Two – a mirror of One Up will also be in action.
The key challenge for long suffering installer Bryce Keachie, proprietor of Keachie Electronics, has been to develop systems over time which can cope with his customers insatiable desire for expansion. As Keachie himself puts it. “He just keeps on adding new areas. The spec of the project has never been set in stone, it just keeps on changing.â€
To keep ahead of the ever-changing demands of his client, Bryce has relied heavily on developing a very flexible AV system. On the audio side this has been achieved with a combination of BSS Audio’s Soundweb distribution system and Tannoy’s Vnet range. On the video front, extensive use of Cat 5 distribution has allowed Keachie to build a network of plasma displays in both indoor and outdoor parts of the venue and allow the venue operator to choose from a range of content including advertising material, DVD and TV sources.
In addition to the entertainment systems provided by TV and audio, several of the venues are fitted with projection systems for presentation purposes. Truly then this is a multipurpose, multimedia venue.
Newly opened on the top floor of 29 is the Supper Club. This is an open plan venue available for hire and is equipped with Tannoy i9 and v8 louspeakers. Low end support comes in the form of VS10 BP subwoofers. These are all driven by Camco Tecton 24.4 and T&M SAPRO800 amplifiers, which are controlled by a Tannoy TDX1 Digital Controller. Like all of the rest of the building, this sound system can operate as a cell, with its own sources, or as part of the larger whole.
A Sanyo PLCXP51L projector and 8ft, 4:3, Electric screen from Owl Video Systems provide a presentation solution, and speakers can use an Audio Technica wireless system based around an ATW-R14 receiver and 1400 series microphones if they need voice reinforcement.
The Network Bar, which is available daily or for private functions, is served by a combination of Tannoy Vnet 12 full range loudspeakers and bass reinforcement from Vnet 15 BP subwoofers. These are both active and networkable, being controlled via RS485 and the network is built using standard RJ45 connectors. The Vnet system allows the system to be fully monitored and the active speakers controlled or configured via a PC or laptop – useful when the system design changes with any kind of regularity.
The room can operate as a standalone sound installation of as a zone in the larger system, controlled by the Cloud Z8 zoning system.
The Network Bar is also equipped with an AV “booth†containing connection points for a laptop and Procon source selection touch panels. From here a presenter can decide what is shown on the Sanyo PLC-XP51L projector, paired with an 8ft electric projection screen supplied by Metroplan.
The bar is also fully WiFi connected for business users, and can happily seat around 150 guests at one time.
The One Up bar, part of the original renovation of the site, is recently expanded with a mirror image on the other side of the building – One Up Two. Both bars are outfitted with Tannoy’s Arena system. The main unit in use is the twin driver Satellite model, which uses a miniature version of Tannoy’s dual concentric technology. Bass reinforcement comes from VS10 BP subwoofers. Flexibility is again the name of the game for the audio system. The Bar often plays host to a live DJ who can plug directly into the room’s sound system, but at other times there’s a need for background music or audio from the plasma screens. Another scenario is a combination of the latter two. For this reason the bar is divided into several zones, allowing some visitors to watch, for example, football without inflicting it on those who are less interested.
One Up also has a couple of outdoor smoking terraces, which are equipped with more Tannoy gear and Samsung plasma screens in weatherproof cases. Indoors, more Samsung plasmas as well as a pair of Mitsubishi ES100 projectors show video content.
The backbone of the system that allows all these disparate venues to run together is provided by BSS Audio’s Soundweb. Keachie explained: “All the various racks and audio sources throughout the building are networked using 9088ii network signal processors controlled by Jellyfish SW9010 and SW9012 remotes. Combined with the Cloud Z8’s that we use throughout, it allows us to be very flexible with the audio system. We can route almost any source to any other part of the building. So, if a DJ is playing in the basement we could play that out in One Up or the Network Bar. Equally a number of the venues are sub zoned themselves, allowing for more flexible usage.â€
The video distribution system has been approached in a similar way. The Royal Exchange Square complex runs a number of video sources. There are several Sky decoder boxes, numerous video sources such as DVD players and also additional HDD players, which hold advertising content. The content is distributed either via standard coaxial or via Cat 5. Kramer’s 711XL transmitters and receivers are used to convert composite video onto Cat 5. A Kramer VS88V 8x8 Composite matrix switcher is employed to distribute the numerous sources to appropriate displays. The main screens used throughout the building are Samsung PS42E7HDX and LE32R74BDX plasma displays.
An already impressive project, the system is set to expand as Lynette leisure capitalises on the success and popularity of the venue. Plans are already in place to add further outdoor spaces with accompanying AV technology, as well as another down stairs venue. The recent introduction of a smoking ban in Scotland’s public venues is fuelling demand for such spaces. With the flexibility of the BSS and Tannoy products as a basis, Keachie is confident he is up to the task.