Located in La Défense, the business district to the west of the French capital, and boasting more than 200 shops, 40 restaurants and a 16-screen cinema, Westfield Les 4 Temps is Europe’s largest shopping centre and recently completed an audio upgrade from Paris-based A/V specialist Videlio. Having previously been commissioned by Westfield for its Digital Dream – a series of three curved LED screens which, with a total surface area of 250m², are billed as the largest interactive indoor video display in Europe – at Les 4 Temps, Videlio turned to APG for the immersive audio accompaniment that would grab the attention of busy shoppers.
Stéphane Le Roux, Head of Digital Media for Videlio’s specialist complex-projects division, Videlio-Scénotechnique, has been working with Westfield Les 4 Temps owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield for ten years, overseeing maintenance of its existing A/V systems and advising on future upgrades. He explains that Westfield Les 4 Temps’ owners were converted to the experiential possibilities of spatial audio after Videlio demoed TADAMM, an ‘immersive experience box’ showcasing the possibilities of immersive audio and video solutions.
‘As a technological partner of TADAMM, we invited Westfield to witness the added value of an immersive sound system complementing the video system originally planned for this project. We demonstrated how the visual component’s impact on the LED screens coupled with the sound system could significantly improve visitors’ attention grabbing, preventing them from looking at their phones on escalators or during down time and instead engaging with the content.’
The design of both the Digital Dream display and the immersive audio system were overseen by creative agency Tetro, who commissioned Acoustique & Conseil to consult on the latter aspect of the project. AC’s recommendations were that any new audio system should be able to offer clear, intelligible sound at a consistent volume within a defined area around the LED wall, as well as create a fully immersive, spatialised audio environment.
The decision to specify APG loudspeakers was, says Le Roux, determined by four considerations – technological expertise, the strength of its bid, the fact its products are designed and manufactured in France, and the support the company is able to offer its integration partners. ‘We appreciate APG as a company with real expertise,’ he explains. ‘Having partners like APG – who understand the project’s challenges and actively contribute to the experience – was invaluable. APG’s tender more than convinced us, and, being a French company, it was also satisfying to highlight this aspect.
‘Beyond the solution, we needed a high level of service and support, particularly for the acoustic study of the site,’ he addds. ‘Advertisements run hundreds of times a day, so they must not become disruptive for staff and retailers. There was thorough consultation before and during the project. All this set APG apart from the competition.’
To create the desired immersive audio environment, Videlio devised a 12-channel system comprising 28 APG iX5 ultra-compact indoor coaxial loudspeaker, distributed across the two convex LED screens that loop around the first-and-second-floor balconies for even, object-based immersive sound coverage. A full-range loudspeaker that claims ‘studio monitor-like sound quality’, the iX5 is the smallest member of the iX family. All iX-series loudspeakers combine coaxial technology with an integral baffle to eliminate diffraction and provide a linear acoustic field.
Elsewhere, R210TC columns from APG’s sister company, Active Audio, are positioned on either side of the Digital Dream central screen, further ensuring precise and intelligible sound projection.
‘We want to offer a complete experience to our customers and positively surprise them,’ says Westfield Les 4 Temps, Perceval de Saint-Seine, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s senior media manager for Europe. ‘This drives us to choose top-tier technology and partners to ensure no compromise on quality, and are extremely discreet and perfectly integrated into the environment’.
Reflecting on Westfield Les 4 Temp’s first immersive audio system – which is, according to Perceval de Saint-Seine, already being utilised with ‘spectacular’ results by advertisers such as Coca-Cola – Videlio’s le Roux is proud to have partnered with APG to deliver a world first in Paris.
