The recently completed expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center (PCC) marks the completion of the largest public works project in the city’s history.

The expansion has earned PCC a ranking as one of the ten largest convention properties in the US. It now occupies 20 acres in the heart of downtown Philadelphia and features two large ballrooms and seven exhibition halls – sufficient to hold two major conventions and smaller events simultaneously.

The Convention Center, first opened in 1993, has been expanded by four city blocks as part of a 20-year plan to renew Philadelphia’s downtown City Center District, a once-struggling area that has seen tremendous economic growth in the two decades since the revitalisation began.

‘One of the important elements of the expansion project was the installation of an audio system that would deliver evenly distributed, clear and natural sounding music and speech reproduction throughout these large spaces,’ says Larry McIntyre, Senior Consultant at Acentech, the acoustics, audiovisual, and vibration consulting firm who designed PCC’s new audio system.

The sound system, installed by the Philadelphia offices of AVI-SPL, is used not only for music and general announcements, but also emergency voice notifications. This makes system integrity a critical aspect.

‘We incorporated Community’s Cloud12 Loudspeakers into the system design because of their reputation for outstanding quality and sound reproduction,’ McIntyre explains. ‘The fact that they are locally produced was an added benefit.’

Acentech’s audiovisual consultants designed a highly flexible network-based digital audio system using more than 400 Community Cloud Series 1266, 1266T, and 1299T loudspeakers. Audio distribution throughout the expansion is provided via a CobraNet-based network that also interfaces with the main building’s analogue audio system. Biamp AudiaFusion amplification powers the expansion system.

‘We designed the sound system with various controllable zones which we kept small so that any zone failure wouldn’t prevent delivery of the emergency voice notification,’ McIntyre reports. ‘Each zone consists of an amplifier output circuit, wiring and an assortment of Community Cloud Loudspeakers. Each amplifier is also monitored and fully redundant.’

‘AVI-SPL is honoured to have played such a critical role in the largest public works project in Pennsylvania history,’ added Tom Kelley, AVI-SPL’s General Manager. ‘Working with valued partners like Community and Biamp Systems, our team implemented a multifaceted audio system that delivers music, general announcements, and emergency notifications, all while maintaining complete system integrity.’

Convention bookings and attendance have increased more than 25 per cent since the completion of the convention centre’s expansion.

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