Contrasting the heritage of its Medieval history, the Jordanki Cultural & Congress Centre (CKK) in the the Old Town in the Polish city of Toruń offers two concert halls, a cinema, conference rooms, rehearsal spaces and restaurant.
CKK is the work of Spanish architect Fernando Menis and provides a multipurpose cultural hub for the city and its surrounds. Warsaw-based Konsbud Audio provided and installed all the electroacoustics systems that were installed in the CKK. Along with the installation of FOH control, digital audio network, audio playback, multichannel audio recording systems, comms, A/V systems and 75km of cabling, Konsbud Audio also installed sound reinforcement in the Concert Hall and the Chamber Hall using d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers.
Piotr Jankiewicz, Director of the design and integration department at Konsbud Audio was the project director: ‘This project has without doubt been a huge challenge for us; this is the largest installation contract Konsbud Audio has undertaken to date. The amount of cabling that has been used is testament to that! Part of the challenge was due to the highly original design of the building; the shape and purpose of the building required a very sympathetic approach to the installation.
‘The performance spaces are designed without parallel walls and certainly during the design stage, it was often difficult to visualise the final appearance of the rooms or the shape of the walls. In a venue such as this it was crucial to have a very versatile system hence our choice of d&b loudspeakers that are known for their ability to deliver both in terms of frequency response and sound level.’
In the Concert Hall, Konsbud Audio chose a V-Series system rigged as an LR line array and comprising a combination of V8 and V12 cabinets. V-Sub and J-Infra were used to provide low frequency support and T10s were utilized as front fill and coverage at a side balcony. The constant directivity control over a very wide frequency range, for which the V-Series is renowned, was especially useful in this asymmetrical room. The Concert Hall plays host to a myriad of different performance genres and touring artists, so faith and trust in the brand played an important part in opting for the d&b label – as did the flexibility of the system in both of the centre’s major venues.
It was the T-Series that was chosen for The Chamber Hall: ‘Because these loudspeakers can be used both as a line array and as a high directivity point source loudspeaker they were the ideal choice in this room,’ Jankiewicz says. ‘Due to their extraordinary specifications and flexibility in application these devices can be used not only as front of house sound reinforcement loudspeakers, but also in any other occasions where there is a need to provide sound reinforcement in other parts of the stage or even in other rooms. We had no doubts considering them the perfect choice.’
All the loudspeakers are driven by D80 amplifiers, including the Max and M6 stage monitors: ‘The advantages are obvious,’ Jankiewicz says. ‘It’s hard to imagine why anyone should use other amplifiers and turn away from all the functionalities and quality guaranteed by d&b audiotechnik. The systems installed in the CKK are designed to be portable. Using a single type of amplifier for all of the loudspeakers eliminates compatibility issues and makes it extremely easy and quick to adapt a system’s configuration to the needs of a specific event.’
The centre has also selected Allen & Heath’s ME system to cater for personal monitoring in two performance halls. A;so supplied and installed by Konsbud Audio, the system consists of 16 ME-1 personal mini-mixers and two ME-U hubs, divided between the Concert Hall and Chamber Hall.
‘The ME system is primarily for onstage monitoring in the main performance halls but the ME-1s can also be moved to other rooms in the venue if required, as there are conveniently located connection points for the mixers in other areas’ says Damian Mizura, from the projects and installations department at Konsbud Audio. ‘ME is a flexible, portable and great sounding system, and Jordanki is very satisfied with its choice.’
Jankiewicz concludes: ‘I’m proud of the state of the art technical solutions we have implemented here; the audio system is very flexible and sounds just amazing – I am very, very pleased.’ His words are endorsed by front of house sound engineer Bartosz Kurkowski who hails from Toruń. ‘I’ve waited a long, long time for a venue like this in my hometown. It is nothing less than a dream come true.’
