"The school needed a foolproof system that could meet a wide range of needs," said Jock Wallace, Black Light's head of installation manager. "To check that we had chosen the right equipment we did a detailed demonstration for Dundee City Council at our HQ in Edinburgh. By working so closely with the council we made sure that the school got the system they needed, that was fit for purpose and within budget."
At the heart of the school's new audio set-up is the QSC Q-Sys control system. This fully digital system allows touch-screen control and maximum flexibility and ease-of-use. For example it can be operated from a mixing desk, or a janitor can simply plug in a microphone for a pupil to use. The new equipment was installed in the school's main assembly hall. The installation took place in phases while the school was being built from June 2012 onwards.
The assembly hall space at the school can be divided in two rooms with a moveable wall, so the audio system was programmed so that it could work to work in tandem in the two areas. The transition to this two-zone set-up takes place at the touch of a button, making the system usable by all staff.
"We'd worked on a previous school project in Dundee where a similar job had been over specified by the client," explains Phil Haldane, Black Light's head of company development. "When the St Clements job came up, we went back to them with a proposal for a more cost-effective system and were awarded the contract."
(Jim Evans)
