Set in the coastal community of Port St Joe in Florida, Windmark Beach Church is a campus plant of Hiland Park Baptist Church, a major Southern Baptist congregation based in nearby Panama City. Established as a portable ‘church-in-a-box’ set-up, the congregation has now become a permanent facility within the WindMark Village Center . To deliver high-performance sound reinforcement for its modern worship services, the new sanctuary has been equipped with a Martin Audio system, designed, supplied and installed by S&L Integration.
The sanctuary presented unique acoustic and physical constraints, most notably low ceilings, structural columns, and tight sightlines that required a compact yet powerful point-source approach rather than line arrays. ‘My biggest concern was during the design phase,’ says church Technical Director Reece Antley. ‘With the space we had, I was worried about how it was going to work and how it was going to sound when we finished.’
‘The ceiling was a little lower than we would have liked,’ Gage Helton, S&L Director of Operations at Integration, concurs. ‘But this just meant we couldn’t install large boxes, instead requiring speakers that could tuck up high to keep sightlines in check.’
The solution took the form of Martin Audio’s FlexPoint Series. S&L Integration used Martin Audio’s Dispaly3 3D prediction software to model the room, designing a system capable of delivering a maximum average SPL of 100dBA (±2.5dB) throughout the seating area.
The final sanctuary installation comprises a front :LR pair of FlexPoint FP12 cabinets, supplemented by a pair of FP12s positioned approximately halfway into the room acting as delays. Low-frequency extension is provided by a pair of flown SXC215 cardioid subwoofers, arranged in an end-fire configuration to steer low-end energy downward and distribute bass evenly throughout the space while keeping unwanted spill off the platform.
‘The FlexPoint FP12 was a perfect fit for the space, both in terms of size and performance,’ confirms Helton.
The installation has received praise from church leadership, both for the quality of the sound field and the close collaboration throughout the project. ‘I had experience working with S&L years ago in a corporate environment,’ says Danny Hatchell, Executive Pastor at Windmark Beach Church. ‘They had the credentials and the resume to reassure our staff and decision-makers, demonstrating where they’ve successfully done this before. They brought their talent, shared their background experience, and walked us through the entire process. They helped us make wise choices early on that continue to pay dividends today.’
Antley is equally impressed by both the technical outcome and collaboration between integrator and manufacturer: ‘Originally, I came in thinking about line arrays. That’s where S&L was fantastic – we sat down and discussed what line arrays would actually look like in a room of this size. We couldn’t be happier with the installed Martin Audio FlexPoint solution.
‘Martin Audio came in and tuned the room, offering great ideas that we hadn’t considered. The collaboration between S&L and Martin Audio in delivering the success of this project for our congregation made this my favourite aspect of the entire build process.’
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