SkyCity is New Zealand’s largest single-site, multi-purpose entertainment venue. Located in the heart of Auckland City, the SkyCity complex boasts a casino with more than 100 gaming tables and over 1600 of the latest machines.
The Opportunity
The premiere entertainment destination is home to 22 of Auckland’s top restaurants and bars, a convention centre with up to 21 function rooms, two hotels and a 700-seat theatre. The Sky Tower, at 328 metres, is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand, and offers views of up to 80km in every direction.
Co-ordinating and controlling audio on a site this diverse involves many challenges. There are several background music and television audio sources that need to be distributed to each zone, as well as local inputs in each area. Each of these sources needs to be available in every zone, and then prioritised depending on the function, or type of promotion that is running in that area.
The Solution
To gain this functionality and flexibility, SkyCity changed to the BSS BLU family of digital audio processors in 1995, and has grown to be New Zealand’s largest Soundweb installation.
The system currently consists of more than 35 BSS BLU processors and numerous ethernet control panels. Audio is distributed around the site using Dante.
The site is powered by a number of multi channel Crown DriveCore CDi and DCi installation amplifiers.
“SkyCity has grown to be New Zealand’s largest BSS Soundweb installation and has more than 500 JBL Professional speakers of various models.”
Each restaurant or bar within SkyCity has been architecturally designed and themed. Whether it be a discrete Control Contractor ceiling speaker, or something more stylised like the unobtrusive Pendant series, JBL’s extensive catalogue of purpose-built speakers help deliver that vision to the customer while maintaining the highest standards in audio fidelity. The site now totals more than 500 JBL speakers of various models.
Some venues in the complex have local control using AMX or Crestron interfaces, while a site-wide control interface has been created within the London Architect software.
“Each restaurant and bar has been architecturally designed and themed. JBL’s extensive catalogue of purpose-built speakers help deliver that vision to the customer.”
