Owners of the new £20m penthouse suites at London’s Battersea Power Station development have found a breeding pair of peregrine falcons among neighbours that include Sting and Bear Grylls.
As part of the Grade II-listed building’s £9bn regeneration, it was stipulated that a new tower be erected to replace the original iconic chimneys, the natural habitat of these birds of prey that have been nesting here for 13 years.
Martin Audio long-term partner Rossco was introduced to the project by Simon Woodward of Polar Bear Live. As an acoustics consultant and event technical provider, MD Ross Sharples has provided audio support since confirmation of the Malaysian Consortium bid to develop the site in 2013.
‘We are fully qualified when considering the impact of sound on the environment, and this includes the falcons’ wellbeing, where a 1-min calibrated measurement mic has been placed near the nesting platform to monitor any sound disturbance,’ he says.
But as Europe’s biggest urban development project neared fruition, the Battersea Power Station Development Company began to stage events on the jetty overlooking the Thames last summer. An over-the-top line array was brought in with the result that the sound travelled across the Thames to Pimlico and beyond.
‘Everyone complained and that jeopardised the licence,’ Sharples says. ‘So this year they brought Simon back and he commissioned us to achieve more acceptable levels.’ The Rossco MD had no hesitation in turning to his faithful Martin Audio inventory, specifying a distributed time-aligned system along the deck. ‘I have always loved the ethos and heritage of Martin Audio,’ he says.
The coverage distance needed to be half of the 100m long (10m wide) jetty, with a 5m by 3m hi-res LED screen at one end and a FOH platform set 45m back at the rear. Rossco set a nominal 90dB(A) sound threshold for the wide range of cinematic, theatrical and music productions that would take place.
‘The local council [London Borough of Wandsworth] didn’t impose specific criteria, they simply said they couldn’t be exposed to that level of complaint again. As I didn’t want to set hard limiters a subjective common-sense approach was called for.’ Taking no chances, Rossco installed a measurement meter that records audio levels as a WAV file. ‘This is stored as data, so as regards sound levels we can access remotely and ensure its within permissible limits,’ he says.
Unusually, he turned to older Martin Audio technology to meet his objectives, opting for a pair of Wavefront W2s, stage left and right, with seven pairs of miniature W0.5 running back on either side, spaced 3m apart. ‘All are individually time-aligned and EQd, pointing inwards and downwards to maintain a stereo image,’ he says. ‘With a distributed system we knew we could minimise spill.’
However, the bigger conundrum was with the subs: ‘We needed rear rejection as LF would be travelling backwards towards the falcons’ nest, and that was the primary concern. A cardioid array would have spoiled the aesthetic.’
The solution was a pair of SXC118, into which the W2’s are pole-mounted. ‘We didn’t need big subs and knew about the excellent rear rejection qualities of this speaker.’
In fact the SXC118 features an 18-inch forward-facing driver and a 14-inch rear-facing driver, each driven independently by separate amplifier channels and DSP. Offering a cardioid dispersion pattern, it combines high output capability with 28dB rear rejection at 75Hz.
Meanwhile, Sharples confirmed that Rossco’s older Wavefront stock had been maintained immaculately and performed exceptionally. ‘In fact visiting sound engineers were saying the sound produced by the Wavefronts was the best they had heard.’
It has provided the perfect listening environment for the audiences of around 120, lounging in the deckchairs set in pairs along the boardwalk for the duration of the summer season. ‘The objective was to redeem the situation on the jetty following last year’s catastrophe with a totally controlled sound that you can now barely hear across on the other side of the Thames,’ Sharples states. ‘At the same time, we’ve done our bit to help protect the falcons – it’s special.’
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