Solotech supplies immersive audio at Outernet London

The first in a series of global immersive entertainment and cultural districts, Outernet London offers experiential digital content in the heart of London.

A Solotech team, led by senior project development manager Dan Seal, application engineer Kyle Durno, and application and design services manager Paul Todd, has played a crucial role in the creation of the audio infrastructure for Outernet, contributing technical insight and expertise.

Outernet is said to be the most advanced immersive space in the world. At the heart of the district is The Now Building, featuring 23,000 sq ft of floor-to-ceiling wraparound screens.

Inside, visitors can find five different spaces, including the main Now Building with a 14m-high atrium, the Now Arcade, the Now Venue Cinema Expansion, and two pop-up buildings, Pop 1 and Pop 2. The Now features a four-storey high LED wall, as well as retractable walls, creating a flexible immersive space.

Thanks to early involvement in the project, the Solotech team was able to design an audio network capable of meeting different demands and offering a variety of options for the client.

Ventuz Media created the media servers, with a collection of different templates made available, which have been matched by a range of input options, channels and more.

Solotech collaborated closely with consultancy Hoare Lea to design the immersive audio system that features a QSC Q-SYS network audio system and L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive sound system.

Solotech’s Dan Seal commented: “Outernet is a totally new entertainment concept, providing the client with the opportunity to host anything from an art installation to a movie premiere.

“With a range of applications expected to be run in these spaces, one of the challenges was to ensure it has the flexibility capability to manage such a huge variety of scenarios.”

The team designed an audio network for Outernet’s future needs as well as today’s. Each of the performance spaces – the Now Building, Now Trending and Now Arcade – also feature L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal sound system – using X4is, 5XT’s A10s, Syvas and Syvas Low.

L-Acoustics fast-tracked the development of its SB10i compact subwoofer specifically for the Outernet project. This was quickly moved from its prototype phase and used in spaces where there simply wasn’t room for subs to be implemented in a conventional way.

The Solotech team also developed a system that bridged between Outernet’s L-Acoustic and Q-Sys networks.

Outernet CTO Mike Whittaker said: “It is the sound that will add the ‘wow’ dimension to Outernet experiences. The audio design that Solotech created, with the L Acoustics products, give us a truly immersive audio experience to support our screens, as well as giving us the flexibility we need to support a wide range of uses by clients and artists.”