ISSO Wentworth Precinct Community Centre: integrated AV and control for a multi-room complex

Project snapshot

• Client: ISSO New Zealand (International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation)
• Venue: Wentworth Precinct Community Centre, Auckland
• Sector: Community centre and place of worship
• Scope: Integrated audio, video and control across a new multi-room centre, linked to the existing temple building, plus an ongoing service agreement

The venue

The Wentworth Precinct Community Centre is a new multi-room building open to every community, not only the one that built it: a reception and dining area, a kitchen, multi-function suites and outdoor walkways. It sits alongside the organisation's existing temple building, and it hosts large events that fill every room, conferences, performances and community gatherings, often on the same day.

The brief

ISSO wanted a system that would take the site well into the future: audio and video in every space, the ability to route any source to any room, and room to expand as the way the centre is used keeps growing.

Linking the new centre to the existing temple

The most useful part of the design is the link between the two buildings. Rather than treating the new community centre as a separate venue with its own island of equipment, we connected it to the existing temple building so audio and video feeds interconnect across both.

That means a service or ceremony in the temple can be carried live into the community centre's rooms, for overflow seating during a large event, or so people in the dining area can follow what is happening next door. It works in the other direction too: a presentation or performance in the community centre can be sent back to the temple building. One event, two buildings, no cameras and cables dragged between them each time.

What we designed

• Whole-site control. A Kramer control system is the central control point for the building: video, audio, lighting and curtains all run from it, so staff and volunteers set a room up for a service, a dinner or a presentation from one interface rather than learning a rack.
• Video over IP. Kramer encoders and decoders distribute video across the network, which is what makes any-source-to-any-room routing, and the link to the temple building, practical.
• Networked audio. An Allen & Heath SQ5 digital mixer with a Dante stage box handles the main hall and performances, with monitor mixes for musicians and conference presenters, and audio available as a Dante feed for recording and streaming.
• Zoned loudspeakers through the reception, dining and multi-function spaces and along the outdoor walkway, each zone selectable from the control system.

An evolving system

A site like this is never "finished". Since the main installation we have added equipment, reconfigured routing as the community's needs changed, helped the organisation separate its AV network from its office IT, and provided training on the SQ5, Dante routing and monitor mixes so the in-house team can run events themselves.

Ongoing support

ISSO and Audio Connect now have an annual service agreement covering routine maintenance, firmware and configuration updates, and priority call-outs ahead of major events. For a venue that runs events most days, that predictability matters more than any single piece of equipment.

Our role

Design, supply, installation and programming of the integrated system, followed by ongoing maintenance and support.

Community centre or place of worship?

Multi-room venues, and multi-building sites, need audio, video and control designed together rather than bolted on room by room. See our AV installation service, or arrange a site visit.