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Historic British Church Transforms Arts Performance Space with NEXO Alpha
‘The Black-E' community arts project in Liverpool has completed a £6m refurbishment to become the North-West's only in-the-round auditorium. Its triple-height performance space has been transformed by a beefy central cluster of Nexo AlphaE PA, designed and installed by SSE Sales, who had to overcome a number of acoustic challenges set by the architecture of this former Congregational Chapel.
The Black-E originally derived its nickname - 'the Blackie' - in the 1960s, as over 100 years of smoke and grime had stained the chapel's stonework black. It was at that time when the building was given a new lease of life as the UK's first community arts project.
SSE Sales was approached in late 2008 by Dan Mills, technical manager of ‘The Black-E,' to provide a sound reinforcement system for the newly-refurbished performance space, but this was by no means straightforward. The chapel architecture meant the system needed to cover the audience in the round on three levels. In addition, the system had to be easy to move so the space could be used for alternative formats. Being a registered charity, The Black-E's budget was inevitably tight.
SSE designers realised the whole floorspace could be kept free for performance with one large 360 degree centre cluster of NEXO Alpha-E cabinets. Each level of the auditorium is covered by its own mid-high speaker, with the installation of 3x Alpha EM cabinets pointing at each side of the room. The 75ft x 30ft dispersion pattern of the Alpha EM meant the best possible coverage was provided, with everything clearly audible for the whole audience.
Amplification for the main system is provided by four Camco Vortex 6s, controlled by two Nexo NX241 digital processors. In addition, standard SSE touring packaging was used for the amp racks to keep the system as flexible and portable as possible.
Rigging the system was more challenging than usual as the speaker hang had to be raised and lowered by relatively inexperienced personnel. The hang was designed so that it lifts in sections, with a single hoist used on each hang in turn, making lifting and lowering very straightforward. Therefore the cluster is effectively four separate speaker hangs, consisting of two columns of three Alpha EM and two Alpha B1-18s.
To make the adjustment of trim height and setting of the angles as simple as possible, each hang is hoisted into position on a central lifting point, then lowered onto a left and a right point and fixed via chains permanently installed in the roof. The height of the hang is then set, with the central chain hoist acting as a safety. Each of these hangs is flown using standard Nexo Alpha XBOW flybeams, but provision was needed for a single, central lifting point for the hoist.
Sigma Fabrications, SSE's manufacturing arm, manufactured a beam which could act as the solid central lifting point and this was successfully load tested to four tonnes, which more than coped with the 5:1 safety ratio. All loading calculations for the roof structure and the flying points were carried out by SSE's regular structural engineer.
To support the main system, SSE Sales also supplied a separate system consisting of four Nexo PS10s and four channels of amplification. This is used for both monitors and a small portable PA. Control comes via a brand new Allen and Heath iLive 112T, with the iDR-48 input rack. The system should serve ‘The Black-E' community performance centre well for many years to come.
22nd June 2009
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