Macclesfield Town Football Club is one of the leading teams in the North West Counties Football League in England. It is one of the oldest clubs in the country and has become a popular fitness and entertainment facility for the local community. Revitalizing and renovating the Macclesfield Town Complex has been the passion project of Rob Smethurst, whose vision included an all-weather pitch, upgrading stands, a youth football academy, two state-of-the-art private gyms, and a large sports bar and restaurant.
Having managed to build an extensive portfolio of residential projects, Lux Integrate had only served mostly smaller commercial businesses prior to getting the call to specify the Macclesfield FC project. The referral came from their hi profile residential client, ex-footballer Robbie Savage. Working with Rob Smethurst on the big Macclesfield project, Savage initially contacted Lux Integrate to install a system for the facility’s board room. Upon reviewing the project and the ambitions of the duo, the team at Lux Integrate, headed by Jay Hussain, knew that they could contribute in other areas to help make the vision a reality, to achieve the impressive experience they were going for.
This ambitious overhaul considered every detail to ensure a complete experience for fans and visitors, including full integration of technology systems. The facility would need great sounding audio throughout the various spaces to help achieve an immersive and complete experience, be it audio for the gym spaces, restaurant area, board rooms, or other amenity offering. With many diverse experience needs for audio and system control, the project team partnered with established custom integration experts, Lux Integrate.
“I realised the plan [originally specified by the previous partner] wouldn’t deliver what Rob needed, and with Habitech’s support, I suggested a few changes, upselling the idea of spectacular high quality video walls and evenly distributed wide bandwidth sound to go with them. So, he asked us for a detailed proposal and virtually overnight my role changed from consultant to project facilitator in charge of design and installation. I’d had this vision of sports bar AV done right and this was my opportunity to prove it.”
– Jay Hussain, Lux Integrate
Tackling diverse areas of this larger project required flexible solutions. For this, Jay and the team at Lux Integrate worked with locally based manufacturer representative, Habitech, to design the perfect system. For the bar and restaurant atmosphere, the system included Sonance Professional Series Pendant style speakers that could blend in with the ceiling area with the ability to be strategically positioned just above the listening area. The VIP bar area is designed with a different aesthetic which required a different form factor for the speakers to blend in. For this, Sonance Professional Series In-Ceiling speakers were selected. The series’ ability to match tonality across form factors makes mixing and matching easy without compromising the audio performance throughout the space. To ensure that the bar audio could keep up with the energy and volume of enthusiastic fans, a Sonance Professional Series Subwoofer was installed as well. The system provides full-bodied sound that can carry the atmosphere at all times of day.
“Between the video walls in the bar we hung ten evenly spaced Sonance PS-P63T 6.5-inch Pro Series pendant speakers from the ceiling. Stylistically they work really well with the exposed air conditioning pipes and cable trays.”
– Jay Hussain, Lux Integrate
Beyond the bar system, audio was selected to support the gymnasiums and changing areas which include a diverse range of fitness activity spaces with varying needs. With spin, boxing, cardio, and other workout areas, the audio needed to be able to deliver high performance and clarity at various volumes. A mix of Sonance Professional Series Pendant speakers, In-Ceiling, and Surface Mount speakers were applied, providing the appropriate experience per workout zone while blending into the design of the space.
The newly renovated and freshly branded Macclesfield FC provides a complete experience in every detail of the visitor’s experience. Having an impactful audio experience that adapts to the activity and the space has made the facility all the more impressive. Macclesfield FC and the entire team involved in the renovation is pleased with the performance and execution of the system details to make every aspect of the Macclesfield FC experience memorable for fans year round. The facility and its amenities will keep fans coming back matchday after matchday.
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