Install Story - Auditorium
Comprehensive AV Architecture by Effectron at Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam College Auditorium
Interior view of the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam College Auditorium
The 2000-seat multipurpose auditorium at the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Government College in Daman, in August 2020 was installed with an impressive audio architecture from Adamson with the aim of hosting conferences, screenings, concerts, and theatre. Executed by the team at Effectron New Delhi, the system was sourced through Sonotone and LBT, Adamson’s official distributors in India and Barco and Creston directly. PT spoke to Anuj Darbari, Director, Effectron to get insights on the installation.
The college is affiliated with Gujarat University and runs eight bachelor programs i.e. B. A. in Gujarati Literature, Economics and English Literature, B.Com. and B. Sc. in Chemistry, Mathematics, Microbiology, Botany.
Layout
The auditorium is part of the APJ Abdul Kalam College premises located at the outskirts of Silvasa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli close to the academic block of the college. This new building has break out spaces and wide corridors that enable large gatherings and a multi-utility space which aims to enhance the overall academic development of students.
The auditorium is designed and equipped to deliver seminars, conventions, cultural evenings, debates, quizzes, dance and drama performances. The layout of the building consists of a stage and two levels of seating. The stage approximately 20 mts wide with a depth of 7 mts, is ideal for ballets and choirs. For stage lighting the auditorium originally had halogen lights which needed multiple fixtures.
Interior view of the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam College Auditorium
Conceptualization
The project was conceptualized by Chief Engineer B.C. Warli of Omnibus Industrial Development Corporation of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Limited and Architect Arun Bij, Principal Architect and Founder of Design Plus, Gurgaon. Together they optimized the space and designed the auditorium into a fan shape to accommodate 2000 students/audience with spacious aisles and a perfect line of sight. “It was a pleasure and delight to work in a space which has been tailor-made for a perfect auditorium,” said Er. Anuj Darbari, Director – Effectron.
Er. Anuj Darbari , Director, Effectron Luminex Ltd. New Delhi
Er. Sandeep Gupta- Founder and owner of Srishti Enterprises, Chandigarh
The professional commitment of Anuj Darbari and his team, made Effectron the preferred choice as SI for the project, commented Mr. Sandeep Gupta who has built over 100 auditoriums.
Elaborating on how Effectron was formed in 1988 as part of an expansion of the Darbari Group and now evolved into a turnkey project execution company for auditoriums and studios, across the globe, bagged this prestigious project, Anuj Darbari says, “The BoQ (Bill of Quantity) was framed and the tender was floated. The tender was on a turnkey basis comprising - Acoustics, CCTV, Lifts, Seating, Stage Lighting and Furnishing, and Multimedia Presentation System. The tender was bagged by Turnkey Contractor M/s Srishti Enterprise headed by Er. Sandeep Gupta. Er. Gupta made multiple presentations and submitted designs within the scope of BoQ to suit the acoustics and aesthetics of the space. The core team headed by Chief Engineer B.C. Warli-OIDC, Arch. Arun Bij and Er Sandeep Gupta finally froze on the design.
Stage Light Schematic
The comprehensive system installed at the auditorium consists of Adamson Line Array’s, Barco Projection and Effectron Lighting
Stage Lighting Schematic
“In accordance with the BoQ, we suggested a replacement from Halogen based stage lighting to LED lighting which could offer true colors and also reduce the need for multiple fixtures, using RGBW Lights,” informs Anuj.
Furnishings included state-of-the-art motorized light bars with flip flops for cable management and easy maintenance of lights as focusing and cleaning of lights becomes easy.
The three curtains on stage and cyclorama with 8 sets of wings provided what is required for an Auditorium built in 2020.
Sound System Schematic
The Sound System, location and angles was virtually conceptualized using Adamson’s Blueprint AV software.
The walls and ceilings were reinforced with acoustic materials using Sabine’s formula keeping in mind the choice of material which enhances the grandeur of the 2000-seater auditorium. For the wood, in ceiling acoustically transparent material was used. Adamson Drivers, Lab.grupen Amplifiers and Beyerdynamic Microphones ensured true reproduction of sound over the frequency spectrum.
“I first saw the Adamson Sound System in one of the international Expos I had visited and was impressed by its high fidelity, small form factor, distance and angle of coverage, and it was an easy decision to choose as we also had to see what was best for the given space,” says Anuj.
The comprehensive system installed at the auditorium consists of 18 Adamson IS7 line array cabinets deployed as the FOH to allow for increased vertical dispersion without sacrificing high frequency presence in the far field, while the IS118 subwoofers under the stage provide clean, low frequency impact. Adamson’s Point Concentric Series products have also been installed and embedded in the stage parapet, with PC6 loudspeakers deployed as lip fills and PC8 loudspeakers deployed as under-balcony delays. The entire system is powered by Lab.gruppen D80:4L amplifiers.
Anuj states, “The Adamson IS7 is sleek and lightweight, it’s pleasantly surprising to experience such impressive sound and clarity from the system. Not just that, the sound reproduction is smooth and pristine throughout the auditorium and the speakers blend seamlessly into the space. We worked with Nitesh Narayan on the design using Adamson’s Blueprint AV software, which helped us in fine-tuning the system.”
Effectron approached Karan Nagpal, Director, Sonotone, during the design phase of the implementation. Together with who is also the Sound Engineer for Sanam and Farhan Akhtar, they provided further tweaking of frequencies to make the listening experience an immersive solution.
“Effectron had already installed and connected the system as per the diagrams and there was no difficulty in final alignment and tuning,” said Nitesh Narayan who was delighted to balance the system.
“Karan ensured timely delivery of the entire BOQ from Canada, and we were glad we could do the complete install during COVID-19 Pandemic using strict compliance to COVID-19 Safety guidelines at site,” informs Anuj.
Sound System Schematic
Stage Lighting and Furnishing Schematic
According to Karan, “We were provided with the complete layout drawing of the venue and the details of what they were expecting in terms of SPL levels at the venue. On the basis of that we mapped out a 3D simulation of the venue using Adamson’s propriety blueprint software and that provided us with all kinds of combination of speakers.”
The 3D simulation helped the team choose the right product within the parameters that was given by Effectron. Sonotone provided the design and supplied all the products for the venue. Anuj with his team along with local help executed the entire installation.
“The overall audio quality and level was seamless throughout the venue, rendering a pleasant listening experience perfectly suited for the venue,” informs Karan.
Anuj further added, “Using Adamson’s wide range of loudspeakers, it was easy to pick and choose the right product and see the plot on the Adamson Blueprint AV software for its impact on STI and SPL levels.”
6 sets of Stage Lighting Bars covering the entire stage to ensure no dark spots
Stage Lighting and Furnishing Schematic
The auditorium had an LCD projector which was modified to a Barco Laser Projector, which ensures crisper image quality and almost negligible lamp replacement cost.
Crestron Transmitters and receivers provided connectivity of multi-input data facility from the Stage. The Matrix switcher provided an option to choose the right input to the source.
The auditorium was also installed with Stage Lighting Video System and Low Voltage system.
Equipment List
Adamson:
Line Arrays: IS7 - 18 nos. distributed in two arrays (9 each in the main hang) (in front of the stage facing the audience)
Subwoofers: IS118 - 6 nos. 18” single subwoofer (in front area)
Front Fill Speakers: Point Concentric Loud speakers – 2 nos. PC6 (embedded in stage parapet)
Under Balcony Delay Loud Speakers: 4 nos. Point concentric PC8 (Below the balcony)
Stage: 4 nos. PC8 (on stage for lip fills)
Lab.gruppen Amplifiers: 5 nos. D80:4L 4 Channel Amplifier (in the control room)
Beyerdynamic Microphones: Gooseneck Microphones, Handheld cordless microphones, Lapel Microphones, Ceiling suspended Microphones, Boundary Layer Microphones for theatres (on stage)
Effectron Stage Lighting
There were 6 sets of Stage Lighting Bars to cover the entire stage and ensure no dark spots on stage.
FOH Light Bar: Highlights area ahead of Curtain, uses LED PAR and Profiles
Light Bar #1, #2 to cover the head table: it uses Fresenal, Floods, LED Par RGBW
Light Bar#3, #4 and #5 ensures complete coverage of stage. Light Bar #3 also provides back lighting
Light Bar# 6 is a Cyc Light Bar.
Splitter 1 in 8 out, 3nos optically isolated to provide DMX Bus across all light point
Dimmers: 24 Channel x2 nos 4 KW Thyristor based DMX controlled Relay / Dimmer Panel.
Effectron Stage Furnishing
Motorised Light/ Mic/Set Bars: 14 Nos.
Motorised Curtains: 3 no. – Main Curtain (Velvet), Act and Rear Curtain (Blaze Cotton) Wings (Blaze Cotton), Side Ladders for Lights
Video System
Equipped with 10000 Lumens Laser Phospher Barco Projector with long throw lens to cover a distance of 32 mtrs and give a projection ht of 6 mtr x 14 mtr.
Switcher – Crestron
Wall Plates etc. – Crestron
Video Schematic
Conclusion
The installation at the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam College Auditorium, in Silvasa, started in January 2020 and was completed during the COVID-19 lockdown in August 2020.
The only challenge the team faced during the entire installation was ensuring adherence to Covid-19 safety protocols across the entire seat and across all activities as well as sending all materials in only two trucks.
“The overall integration provided a fulfilling experience not only for me but for the entire team Led ably by SRISHTI’S Project Manager Harish Mallanna who in coordination with our Nationl Project Head Bhim Manchanda ensured timely handover of the system. The COVID-19 Pandemic ensured more quality and safety being infused in the project. Every morning there was a virtual site meeting with the entire team at our projet office in New Delhi with Bharat Sehgal - project coordinator ensured all material required at site was organised and sent, as transport was a challenge Our national Service support Incharge Amresh Mishra guided through hand sketches / drawings using whats app to our Site Engineer Dinesh Dubey to ensure zero defect installation, I take pride in the team that executed the project flawlessly – I Thank Team Effectron, Team Srishti & Team Adamson for the undying energy exhibited during the pandemic” says Anuj.
“Most importantly, the college management was absolutely delighted with the Adamson system. They loved its small size, unobtrusive appearance, and the fact that it looked so good in the auditorium. This is just the sort of application for which the IS Series is designed, offering amazing sound, easy installation, all in a compact package”, concludes Anuj.