In the environs of Washington DC, a city whose climate embraces near-arctic winters and sub-tropical summers, the elements were top of the list for consideration when the sparkling new National Harbor – one of the largest developments in Maryland's history – was mapped out.
7.3 million sq ft of commercial space, hundreds of condos, four piers and two marinas make up the project, south of the Capital Beltway, and besides its long-term occupants its potential as an entertainment destination figured high on the agenda of the developer, The Peterson Companies.
The plans for the 300-acre, residential and commercial Potomac River waterfront scheme called for a large distributed audio system, branching out from a central plaza that occupies the riverside end of American Way, a broad avenue of shops and offices inspired by Las Ramblas, the throbbing Catalan heart of Barcelona, Spain.
Electrosonic was brought in to design
and install an audio, video and lighting
system that is both fully integrated and for
the most part weatherized. The extensive,
all-self-powered Renkus-Heinz system,
with two
PN102/LA-R-WR line arrays and
121
SG61-2R-WR distributed loudspeakers,
is controlled by
RHAON over Cobranet,
while DMX lighting control and video data
runs in parallel over the same network, the
latter from a Green Hippo video
server/player.
A Medialon Show Control
system with AMX touchscreens allows
simple day-to-day operation for National
Habor staff, while for full stage productions
on the plaza a digital mixing board can be
plugged into the system in seconds.
A Peavey MediaMatrix Nion system
provides head-end DSP while
RHAON is
used to deliver precision digital audio to
each individual loudspeaaker, with each
cabinet's amplifier assigned its own IP
address during off-site pre-programming
by Electrosonic. As well as the obvious
benefits of simplified cable runs and
smaller conduit around the 1.5 miles of
waterfront, the choice of self-powered
loudspeakers eliminated the need for
scarce rack space and extra ventilation in
the facility's small control room.
The
SG61-2R-WR self-powered loudspeakers,
which are mounted on poles
along the waterfront boardwalks and piers,
are weatherized versions of the standard
SG61.
Gary Barnes, Electrosonic project
manager commented:
"They've got a nice,
full sound to them for a small speaker."
Weatherizing is an option for most
Renkus-Heinz products and the company
has long experience of the technique; it
also has the advantage of operating a fast
and efficient 'build to order' system for all
but the simplest products.
