The restored St John at Hackney Church
UK - Shure is the sound system of choice for a multi-million pound restoration project at St John at Hackney Church. The project was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in collaboration with designer John Pawson (Abbey of our Lady of Nový Dvůr/Design Museum), visual artist Es Devlin and architects Thomas Ford & Partners.
A noted landmark, St John at Hackney Church was established in 1275 and has been part of the East London community ever since. A church in the traditional sense, since 2010 has welcomed major artists such as Robbie Williams, Florence Welch, Jamie XX, Benjamin Clementine, Bloc Party, Ed Sheeran and Emeli Sandé. As a Music Venue’s Trust and Independent Venue Week affiliated venue, Hackney Church looks forward to hosting some of the world’s finest creators and innovators whilst supporting local artistic endeavour in its Grade II* listed building.
The aim of this project was to create one of London’s premium live event spaces: a ‘Cathedral of Creativity’. The demands of this ambition, combined with working in a historic listed building, created an environment for a challenging installation.
Ben Musson, production manager, comments: “The Shure brand has been synonymous with pro audio for the last 50 years. I had used the Shure ULXD previous and had found it really reliable, and easy to work with. When we had the first tender doc come through from our consultants, Shure was right there on it, and no one felt the slightest need to change it.”
Ben continues: “Having previously used ULXD, the Axient range was a natural next step. What I found particularly impressive was its efficiency in the frequency spectrum, and with the RF it can gather through the antennas. This meant that we were able to push the limit on placement, keeping them out of sight and as discreet as possible.
“For set up we relied on our brilliant production partners at Southby. We haven’t had a problem since, the system has been totally dependable. We use a number of the core features that integrate with our system. It’s patched over Dante to save on analogue I/O but to also provide that flexibility using this system provides.”
Peppe Mallozzi, regional sales manager – pro audio adds, “It’s always a pleasure to work with our partners, Southby on world-class projects, such as the restoration of Hackney Church. They’re always on the ball when it comes to the latest technology, which makes our job easy in continuing to develop mission-critical wireless kit that can deliver under the toughest conditions. We can’t wait to see it in action as shows return to this iconic London venue.”
Ben Musson concludes: “As a church, we are rooted in our community, with our amazing Lighthouse project caring for people in need all over East London, doing incredible youth work, kids work and so much more. Our ultimate vision is to bring hope to the people of East London, and it’s amazing that my work is part of a much bigger story than just the equipment and the space in front of me.”

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