Integration is the key for preparing Eden Stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup

In preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Auckland’s Eden Park has undergone a multi-million transformation which includes a new three-tier South stand and a new two-tier East stand to replace the Terraces thus increasing the crowd capacity to 60,000 from 42,000.

The redeveloped Eden Park, which will host the Opening Ceremony and Game as well as the Final, also features an internal concourse that will allow people to circulate around the grounds inside the stadium and world-class facilities, including food and beverage outlets, toilets and corporate areas.

As well as an update of facilities, the Stadium has had a complete overhaul of its sound systems courtesy of Bartons Sound Systems (BSS) who were subcontracted to Fletcher Construction to design and implement combined music, public address and evacuation systems.

BSS and acoustic consultants Marshall day Acoustics used EASE and SoundPlan software to create a 3-D acoustic model of the Stadium to help them overcome the complexity of the project including design issues relating to stringent environmental concerns.

According to Project Manager Robert Waddell, the most unique design element of the entire project is the combination of the professional PA system with the fire evacuation system. To achieve this Robert specified a Bosch Praesideo system the world’s first fully digital public address and emergency sound system which has been integrated with the Electro-Voice IRIS-Net System. The processing and communication of both audio signals and control data entirely in the digital domain makes the system superior to other currently available public address and emergency sound systems.

”It’s a simple turnkey solution,” explained Robert. ”All of the speakers inside of the building are also used for the pre-recorded fire alarm messages. The Praesideo Digital PA and Emergency Sound System covers many zones, including toilets, public areas, private areas, offices, and stairwells, as they are all defined as evacuation zones. They can all be activated independently or in groups. It’s a highly reliable system, amplifier or battery backed up, so if the mains fail it still works.”

The system’s unique optical network offers Robert total freedom in system design, interference-free audio and a high level of redundancy that traditional systems cannot offer. It is fully programmable, and interfaces with other security systems.

Ease of use is a stand out factor with this system; a standard operator on any event day doesn’t have to bother himself with any aspect of the installation. He’ll have a simple system comprising of a PC from which he can remotely monitor the complete system - from microphones going in through the NetMax DSP processors to the amplifiers and speakers throughout the entire stadium.

”On event day the operator can click on icons on the screen, which is running under the IRIS-Net software the proprietary software that integrates all of the Bosch products together under one network, such as a speaker and if they’re green he knows they’re OK,” explained Bryan Davidson, Bosch’s senior engineer. “If an icon is red he can then click on it to easily find the problem and fix it.”

The Stadium bowl system features the new Electro-Voice Innovations EVH-1152S/66PI horn loaded speakers of which there are fifteen clusters of three.

”The EVH-1152S/66PI doesn’t sound at all like a horn loaded box rather like a front loaded box,” commented Bryan Davidson. “I built an Ease model for the Stadium and looked at various solutions then I got the data for the EVH and it looked great. It maintains pattern control down to 400 Hz whereas other speakers tend to stop at best 500 Hz. EVH is a winner not only acoustically but price wise, it’s a very cost effective solution for stadiums.”

The Stadium bowl system is comprised of fifteen speaker clusters of Electro Voice EVH-1152S/66PI two-way full-range speakers specifically designed for stadium use, EVF-1181S sub-woofers all powered by Dynacord DSA 8410 power amplifiers with RCM 810 remote control modules and three NetMax N8000 Networkable Digital Matrix Controllers.

Bosch