L-ACOUSTICS FLIES AT ZERO GRAVITY

Dubai beach club, bar and restaurant, Zero Gravity, showed off its 2000sqm expansion in March. It includes a 39m glass-fronted swimming pool, 75sqm multi-use stage, and a permanent installation of L-Acoustics X Series complemented with L-Acoustics K2 and ARCS wide loudspeaker systems.

“Everything has been custom-made to ensure it fitted our very specific brief,” says GM Peter Skudutis. From top-of-the-range Spanish marble, to the 60cm x 60cm rain showers in our incredible bathrooms and a 22m acrylic panel for the pool, which was shipped, in one piece, from the Netherlands. If it wasn’t perfect, it went back. As an example, I can tell you we went through eight bathroom designs before going ahead.

“The pool expansion reveals another layer to Zero Gravity, as a complete, globally unique, lifestyle destination. This second phase has been a year in the making. And it is worth the wait.”

With the intended end result never wavering from creating “the best that money can buy” Zero Gravity cherry-picked its partners for this project, with exceptionally high standards.

For audiovisuals, Dubai-based Delta Solutions have installed an L-Acoustics sound system that quite literally jumps off the map.

“Zero Gravity is the only venue in the extended region to include three L-Acoustics systems – a K2 line source array, an ARCS Wide Constant Curvature Line Source and a new X Series coaxial system,” says Gareth Armstrong, Contracts Manager at Delta Solutions. “We have installed concert sound which, at the touch of a button, can be transformed into outdoor cinema sound. There is no other solution anywhere near this region that provides this. The Zero Gravity audiovisual experience is now unrivalled.”

This system is highly controllable and allows the sound to be kept within the site, to keep from annoying the neighbours. For the main stage, two arrays of six K2 each are hung from pillars to the left and right of the stage; front fill is provided by four X15 HiQ; with SB28 subs situated under the stage in an end-firing configuration to create a narrow directional beam of low frequencies, avoiding noise pollution to the buildings to the left of the stage and also creating rejection to the rear.

Two more SB28s are positioned under each of four arrays of three ARCS wide, which hang from a second outdoor stage. One L/R system faces towards the main stage, the other towards the beach, this one also being used as delays for the main system.

Four ARCS Wide and one SB18i subwoofer are hung from each of four FX Towers in the pool area, which are aligned with the main K2 system, whilst 24 X12s deliver background music to the bar and beach areas.

The outdoor stage has the ability to host concerts or be transformed into an outdoor cinema, with audio being configured into a Dolby 5.1 system for screening movies on the beach, and routing done via a DiGiCo S21, along with Dolby processing.

“The installation at Zero Gravity is an important one in the region,” says Peter Owen, Regional Sales Manager at L-Acoustics. “There are very few clubs in the world that are big enough, both in size and conception, to be able to justify the K2 line array, which is generally used in the world’s most prestigious arenas, tours and music festivals.

“Zero Gravity allowed us to use the very best of our technologies, which means we have been able to create a system that is as powerful and sophisticated as the venue itself.”

More Info:
L-Acoustics: www.l-acoustics.com
Australian Distributor: www.hills.com.au