Melbourne Catholic secondary college St Peter’s recently opened a state-of-the-art new performing arts centre, designed by international theatre consultancy Schuler Shook. Located alongside its Clyde North campus in the south-east of the city, the Geode Centre features a full complement of pro-level AV technology solutions designed and integrated by local supplier/installer Factory Sound, including a NEXO GEO M12 line array system.
Working closely with St Peter’s College, the team at Factory Sound were brought in early within the design process to evolve a technical fitout which would serve the school’s intentions for the space whilst ensuring budgets were always under consideration. Working directly for the school over the 18 months prior to construction meant many of the pitfalls which can occur when tech is considered ‘just another trade’ were avoided entirely. Factory Sound AV Installer and Programmer Phil Rowbotham takes up the story.
“The brief was for a high-spec, fully controllable professional grade theatre that would be simple and easy to use for non-technical operators like teachers running their own presentations, without losing any of the complexity that somebody using a full spec theatre would expect.
“The NEXO system was specifically chosen for its ability to suit every purpose that the room requires – intelligibility for speech and school-based functions like assemblies, right through to the full dynamic range that you would expect with a high-dynamic rock band on stage. It really does tick all the boxes.”
The NEXO system at the Geode Centre features left and right hangs of 6 x GEO M1210s flown with 2 x MSUB18s, NEXO ID24s along the front of the stage for front fills and amplification and processing from NEXO’s NXAMPMk2 powered controllers.
“This was a big investment for the school so an important consideration for us was choosing something with longevity that wouldn’t need to be supplemented or replaced in 2 to 5 years” continues Phil. “NEXO is known for build quality and standards across the board. It gives us the confidence that this system will be here for many years to come. I don’t believe that any hired PA would need to come in to supplement what’s here. They really have a full audio system for every possible requirement.”
For further information on Factory Sound, visit: factorysound.com.
