Wood & Grieve Consulting Engineers were recently tasked

with specifying audio equipment for Qantas headquarters.

To establish the acoustics of the space and design the sound

system layout, a 3D EASE model was built by Wood & Grieve.

Subsequent to reviewing many speaker solutions, Bosch

Communications were elected as the company to supply the

optimal sound solution.

Qantas headquarters is an award-winning campus hub,

accommodating thousands of Qantas staff under its long,

interconnecting roof. Along the internal street of the hub, 16

Bosch LS1 Hemi Directional loudspeakers were installed.

The loudspeakers balance directly above the street lights and

have a complementary UFO design, adding another visually

stunning element to the space. Not only a visual pleaser,

the LS1s direct sound downward hemispherically instead of

dispersing it around in unwanted directions which was ideal

in the Qantas hub as it is a highly reflective environment.

Olivier Gaussen, National Acoustics Coordinator from Wood

& Grieve Engineers explained, “The Qantas hub is a very

complex acoustic environment as it includes large amounts

Case Study Qantas Headquarters, Sydney, Australia

Sky-high sound at QANTAS HQ

of reflective surfaces such as glass and terrazzo floor, and

it is located underneath the secondary runway of Sydney

Airport.” Wood & Grieve tamed many of these acoustic quirks

within the space by adding various absorption materials

in strategic locations. The LS1s also have high speech

intelligibility perfect for paging and emergency calls, as well

as high sound pressure level with very even coverage which

is extremely suitable for enclosed high-ceiling areas similar to

the Qantas hub.

The head-end equipment consisted of an Electro-Voice

NetMax N8000 DSP for all background music routing, in

conjunction to a Dynacord Promatrix 8000 paging system.

The equipment works collaboratively to allow staff to page to

any of the 8 different acoustic zones within the hub, as well

as providing pleasing background music.

Further, Wood & Grieve designed a large video screen to

be fitted within the hub, and determined that the Dynacord

TS400 Vertical Arrays were the most suitable speakers for the

application.

The TS400s are situated to the left and right of the big screen.

The 2.5 way design uses spaced and filtered drivers as array

elements which deliver very even and smooth coverage

throughout the challenging acoustic space.

In the centre of the bottom of the screen, two Electro-Voice

SB122 compact 12” subwoofers were installed for added

punch. These subs are incredibly small, yet extremely

powerful, packing 400-watt continuous power handling

(1600-watt peak) into a 15 kg package. The sound system

is completely invisible to the public, as designed by the

architect.

One of the many components of the Qantas hub is an outside

barbeque space designed for staff and patrons. Within this

space, six Electro-Voice ZX1i weatherized loudspeakers were

fitted, which deliver smooth, full range sound performance

with exceptional reliability, and extend the BGM and paging

capabilities.

Trevan Johns & Associates were the winning systems

integrator who did an exceptional job. Despite a particularly

short timeline, all equipment was successfully installed prior

to the hub’s formal opening. EV NetMax N8000 DSP and Dynacord Promatrix 8000 paging system.

The invisible Dynacord TS400s and Electro-Voice SB122s surrounding the hub’s Big Screen.

Consultant: Wood & Grieve Engineers

Level 6, Building B, 207 Pacific Highway

St Leonards NSW Australia 2065

Ph: +61 2 8484 7000

www.wge.com.au

Systems Integrator:Trevan Johns & Associates

Unit 7, 14 Abbott Rd

Seven Hills NSW Australia 2147

Ph: +61 2 9838 4622

www.tjacom.com.au

End User: Qantas

www.qantas.com.au

Ph: +61 2 9691 3636

Supplier: Bosch Communications Systems

Suite 1, Level 2, 21 Solent Circuit,

Baulkham Hills, NSW 2153

Ph: 1300 0 BOSCH (26724)

www.boschcommunications.com.au

Bryan Davidson from Bosch Communications was asked to

commission the system and do some tuning, which he states,

“Was quite a pleasing experience thanks to Wood & Grieve

who had all their homework done in making sure that the

space had a very low reverberation time, thereby allowing us

to achieve a high STI.”

“After the commissioning was completed by the acoustical

consultants, the dynamics, clarity and intelligibility from the

sound system was astounding,” added Trevan Johns, owner

of Trevan Johns & Associates.

Mr. Gaussen from Wood & Grieve Engineers concluded,

“Qantas Airways stakeholders and executives were all very

impressed by the quality and uniformity of the sound across

the hub. The design was a real success as reverberation time

and speech intelligibility performance requirements were met

in a very complex acoustic environment.”

Equipment:16 x Bosch LS1-OC100E-1 Hemi-Directional Loudspeakers

6 x Electro-Voice ZX1i

2 x Dynacord TS 400 Vertical Arrays

2 x Electro-Voice SB122 Subwoofers

1 x Electro-Voice N8000 NetMax

1 x Dynacord Promatrix 8000

Electro-Voice ZX1is line the outdoor barbeque space.