THE NATIONAL
ARTS CENTRE
Augmented Audio Systems
for Canada’s Cultural Hub
S
BY MICHAEL RAINE
ince first opening its doors in 1969, the National Arts Centre
(NAC) has held a special place in Canada’s performing arts
landscape. Standing at the foot of the Rideau Canal and
across the street from Parliament Hill in Ottawa’s pictur-
esque downtown, its stages have hosted countless iconic
performers and classic moments over the past 50 years. But
being a publicly-owned venue, the NAC must not only cater to the
world’s most renowned artists; it also serves as a creative incubator for
the performing arts of all levels and disciplines in Canada.
By 2017, though, the NAC clearly needed to be rejuvenated
and brought up to the modern technological standards befitting its
stature and purpose. And so, it’s not surprising that as Canada pre-
pared for its 150 th birthday in 2017, the NAC was one of the projects
the federal government selected for a significant revitalization. That
included a two-phase, $225-million architectural and production
renewal project. The first phase, the Architectural Rejuvenation, was
done in time for the Canada 150 celebrations in 2017. The second
phase, the Production Renewal that included all new sound systems
for the NAC’s performances spaces as well as a building-wide Opto-
core network, was completed through the summer of 2018.
Being a publicly-owned facility and national historic site – not to
mention the cost, magnitude, and complexity of the job – the NAC
required a unique and comprehensive procurement and bidding
process. The task of coordinating the AV elements fell on Martin Van
Dijk, senior consultant and partner at AV consulting firm Engineering
Harmonics Inc.
“Essentially, the Production Renewal was all about bringing the
NAC up to current production standards. Of course, it was built in
the ‘60s, so in terms of infrastructure, not a lot had been added and it
was definitely long overdue,” Van Dijk says.
To ensure he got the right products combined with the right
integrators for the technological overhaul, Van Dijk and the NAC’s
team devised a unique bidding requirement. “In the case of this kind
of purchase, it’s not about the lowest bid; it’s about the best value
proposition for the client, so you need to include other factors be-
sides whether or not somebody can sell you a speaker for $10 less
than someone else,” he explains. “We organized it in a way that the
proponents had to come to the table in a partnership between the
vendor, the integrators, and the manufacturers. What that does for
the client is ensures that whoever comes to the table and whomever
wins is going to be a [unified team] that will support the client after
all the consultants and everybody are gone. That is really important
to a successful project of this magnitude.”
Of the eight bids that came in for the loudspeaker procurement,
Van Dijk and the NAC narrowed it down to three who were then
brought in for a blind loudspeaker listening test in Southam Hall, the
NAC’s largest performance space. Ultimately, the winning integrator
was Solotech, with its team led by Senior System Designer Mark
Radu, which outfitted the NAC’s two theatres and its black box studio
with a massive assortment of d&b audiotechnik speakers, Digico SD
series consoles, and a cutting-edge Optocore network, among other
support systems.
DIGICO SD7 AT THE CENTRAL
FOH POSITION IN SOUTHAM HALL
26 PROFESSIONAL SOUND