Dubai’s Zero Gravity beach club, bar and restaurant has opened its much-anticipated expansion, including a 39m glass-fronted infinity swimming pool, 800-sq-ft (75m2) multi-use stage and one of the world’s first permanent installations of L-Acoustics X Series, along with L-Acoustics K2 and ARCS Wide loudspeaker systems.
‘Everything has been custom-made to ensure it fitted our very specific brief,’ says General Manager Peter Skudutis. ‘If it wasn’t perfect, it went back – as an example, I can tell you we went through eight bathroom designs before going ahead.
‘The pool expansion reveals another layer to Zero Gravity, as a complete, globally unique, lifestyle destination. This second phase has been a year in the making. And it is worth the wait.’
Never wavering from creating ‘the best that money can buy’ Zero Gravity cherry-picked its partners for the project. For audiovisuals, Dubai-based Delta Solutions installed the L-Acoustics sound system.
‘Zero Gravity is the only venue in the extended region to include three L-Acoustics systems – a K2 line source array, an ARCS Wide Constant Curvature Line Source and a new X Series coaxial system,’ says Delta Solutions Contracts Manager, Gareth Armstrong. ‘We have installed concert sound which, at the touch of a button, can be transformed into outdoor cinema sound. There is no other solution anywhere near this region that provides this. The Zero Gravity audiovisual experience is now unrivalled.’
The system delivers a highly controllable distributed audio system which allows the sound to be kept within the site, thus avoiding annoying neighbours.
For the main stage, two arrays of six K2 each are hung from pillars to the left and right of the stage; front fill is provided by four X15HiQ; with SB28 subs situated under the stage in an end-fire configuration to avoid noise spill to the buildings to the left of the stage and also creating rejection to the rear.
Two further SB28s are positioned under each of four arrays of three ARCS Wide, which hang from the Beach Arch, a second outdoor stage. One LR system faces the main stage, the other toward the beach, this one also being used as delays for the main system. This configuration focuses all the energy towards the audience and away from the adjacent buildings.
Four ARCS Wide and one SB18i subwoofer are hung from each of four FX Towers in the pool area, which are aligned with the main K2 system, while 24 X12s deliver background music to the bar and beach areas.
The system was designed in L-Acoustics SoundVision and is controlled by LA Network Manager. All three systems can be used at once, allowing Zero Gravity to have the same music across the bar, pool, stage, beach and changing rooms. Alternatively, the systems can be isolated in the different areas. The outdoor stage has the ability to host concerts or be transformed into an outdoor cinema, with audio being configured into a Dolby 5.1 system for screening movies on the beach, and routing done via a DiGiCo S21, along with Dolby processing.
‘The installation at Zero Gravity is an important one in the region,’ says L-Acoustics Regional Sales Manager, Peter Owen. ‘There are very few clubs in the world that are big enough, both in size and conception, to be able to justify the K2 line array, which is generally used in the world’s most prestigious arenas, tours and music festivals.
‘Zero Gravity allowed us to use the very best of our technologies, which means we have been able to create a system that is as powerful and sophisticated as the venue itself.’
Zero Gravity showcases the brand new expansion to full effect with its casual dining menu and day-to-night entertainment beach, pool, bar and restaurant-wide.
More: www.l-acoustics.com
