The result of an extensive renovation of the former Metropolitan Athens Hotel, the new Athens Marriott on Syggrou Avenue hotel is located opposite the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, a cultural complex that houses the National Library of Greece and the National Opera. With its roof-top bar overlooking the Acropolis, the Aegean Sea and the Opera, the hotel is five-star rated and is one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in Athens.

In addition to its guest rooms and dining, spa and fitness facilities, the Athens Marriott has eight multi-function event rooms with a combined space of more than 1,000m² and a capacity of around 1,000 persons for both business and social events. As part of the renovation, the specialist integrator ABAS was commissioned to design and install complete audiovisual and automation solutions in all of the event rooms, providing an exceptional audio and video experience at the touch of a button.

To achieve high intelligibility sound in every room, ABAS designed distributed systems using Community’s D Series ceiling loudspeakers. The systems in the eight event rooms include 82 4.5-inch high output two-way D4 and low-profile D4LP loudspeakers. ‘The event rooms required uniform intelligible sound, with the quality and power to cover even the most demanding event,’ Kostas Drosos of ABAS explains.

‘The height of most of the rooms was very low so we needed loudspeakers that could deliver clarity and power, but with a minimum installation depth. To meet these parameters we chose Community D4 and D4LP loudspeakers. With just a 4.5-inch bass driver, they have an impressive low frequency response. In addition to achieving complete and even coverage of the rooms, the profile of the D4 loudspeakers is very discreet and aesthetically pleasing.

‘We chose Monacor amplifiers from Germany as they deliver a lot of power with low THD and reliable continuous operation,’ he continues. ‘With Crestron audio processing and control, all of the audiovisual functions are precisely configured through DSP. The systems in each room can be operated from on-wall touchscreens or wirelessly from an iPad.’ As part of the project, ABAS also installed five high-quality 7,000 lumen Epson WUXGA projector systems.

‘The new audio system provides superb intelligibility and coverage,’ he concludes. ‘The sound is very natural and listeners do not hear any change in volume throughout the room, allowing them to completely relax and focus on the event they are attending.’