{"id":25297,"date":"2022-10-06T16:37:52","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T14:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/?post_type=hot-news&p=25297"},"modified":"2023-01-31T11:19:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T10:19:21","slug":"l-acoustics-l-isa-brings-sonic-grandeur-to-outernet-londons-1bn-immersive-entertainment-hub","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/press-releases\/l-acoustics-l-isa-brings-sonic-grandeur-to-outernet-londons-1bn-immersive-entertainment-hub\/","title":{"rendered":"L-Acoustics L-ISA Brings Sonic Grandeur to Outernet, London\u2019s \u00a31bn Immersive Entertainment Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Opened in September 2022, the ambitious mixed-use development featuring a four-story 360-degree LED display includes L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound in five separate areas<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LONDON, UK \u2013 October 2022<\/strong> \u2013 Walking into the Now Building at Outernet, it may be the world\u2019s largest wraparound video display, with over 2,000 square meters of 16K LED screen to show immersive video content. And while it certainly catches the eye, the ears are in no way left wanting. Equally remarkable is the L-ISA immersive audio installation of 200 loudspeakers that plunge visitors into an immersive soundscape. The Now Building, Outernet\u2019s centerpiece, is used both as an expansive indoor\/outdoor walkthrough space and as a closed venue that can host art installations, live concerts, film premiers, or any event the creative mind can imagine. In either configuration, Outernet is poised to bring a magnificent real-time spatial experience to a projected number of over 400,000 people passing through the space each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Outernet London story started when Consolidated Developments bought a large part of Denmark Street, known affectionately as the UK\u2019s Tin Pan Alley, with the intention to convert this piece of prime London real estate into an innovative, mixed-use development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Outernet is technologically mind-blowing, the site has been treated with sensitivity, with the all-important fa\u00e7ade of Denmark Street fully preserved. In fact, from Denmark Street, the only hint of its existence is its unassuming, erstwhile alleyway entrance. Stepping through, however, reveals the Now Arcade, lined floor-to-ceiling-to-floor with LED panels and loudspeakers – a precursor to what lies beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Now Building at Outernet features L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive audio technology.<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As well as the Now Building, Outernet includes Now Trending, a product sampling, interactive exhibit, and broadcast program space capable of both VR and XR experiences. Now Pop Up 1 and 2 are adjacent to the Now Building and can accommodate pop-up shops or merchandise outlets for performing artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This grand-scale project was challenging yet exciting because of its sheer size and technicality. The team behind the avant-garde audio-visual installation included Consolidated Development owner Laurence Kirschel, Outernet Global CTO Mike Whittaker, engineering consultancy Hoare Lea, audio-visual consultancy Auditoria PTY, integrator SSE Audio, and L-Acoustics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of our creative brief was to deliver a multi-sensory immersive experience where visitors can see, hear, and even sense the aroma of the experience unfolding in front of them,\u201d explains Whittaker. \u201cOur technical challenge was to create a \u2018tech stack\u2019 that would work seamlessly across innumerable applications and types of events, day after day. We needed to match the immersive video with immersive sound. For me, the sound was vitally important as it lifts the pictures off the walls and makes the hairs on people\u2019s necks stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LED screens that line the Now Building create a giant glass box. To complicate things further, two of the four sides of the screen \u2018room\u2019 can be slid aside, transforming the venue from an enclosed room to an indoor\/outdoor walkthrough space that faces a small plaza adjacent to one of the entrances to Tottenham Court Road tube station. As a result, the acoustical elements had to be carefully planned to adapt to any of the venue\u2019s configurations whilst also being mindful that the site is in a mixed-use residential\/business area. \u201cWe need to be considerate neighbors,\u201d notes Whittaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working alongside L-Acoustics from early in the project, SSE Audio, part of the Solotech Group, installed around 200 L-Acoustics cabinets across Outernet\u2019s five ground-level performance spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking up at the Now Building\u2019s spectacular LED screen with a view of the L-Acoustics A10i Focus and Syva Low that sit below it on the three opening walls.<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith such a complex architectural structure, it\u2019s important to get L-ISA to \u2018know\u2019 what condition the space is in. Ensuring we can work with its multiple configurations acoustically is vital, both for live and pre-recorded music,\u201d says SSE Audio\u2019s Senior Project Development Manager, Dan Seal, who worked alongside both L-Acoustics and Auditoria consultant Scott Willsallen on the sound system design. \u201cThe complexity of the project also meant that many disciplines had to be coordinated; creativity was key with loudspeakers being hidden in drainage channels, under screens, and above grills. But throughout it all, adherence to the high standards of the project was primordial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centerpiece of Outernet is the Now Building which is equipped with speakers at transom-level and ground-level to achieve consistency and coverage across the whole space. Twenty-four X4i<\/a> are positioned across the base of one of the massive LED screen walls, while a further 12 X4i are hidden in the drainage system of the other three walls. Twelve compact SB10i<\/a> subwoofers, which were developed specifically for the Outernet project to be hidden within the drainage gutters, provide low-end sound reinforcement. Eleven A10i Focus<\/a>, accompanied by seven Syva Low<\/a> subs, span the top of the three walls that can be opened for the indoor\/outdoor space configuration. There are five optional cinema expansion points for deploying portable Syva\/Syva Low systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe introduction of the SB10i to the L-Acoustics range of products has opened up many possibilities for our Systems Integration projects,\u201d adds Durno. \u201cOptions for positioning subwoofers were very limited on this project, both the Now Trending and Now spaces feature SB10i within the gutter system to extend the low-frequency performance of the floor level X4i, which are critical for screen-based audio content such as dialogue\/music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe challenge in all of these spaces was getting consistent shared coverage over the audience to ensure that, no matter where you are in the space, you are immersed in the sound,\u201d explains SSE Audio Application Engineer Kyle Durno, who has been instrumental in programming the system. \u201cWe faced tough design constraints due to the video walls, so the combination of floor-level and transom-level loudspeakers was an effective solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n