Project Description
Overview
Entra is a massive, block-filling residential and commercial building in the center of Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland, a picturesque city on the Lake of Zurich. Dedicated to providing the community with a top-notch culture and congress event venue that would be a multi-use space ideal for live concerts, corporate events, and cultural events, the complex includes a 1050-capacity live venue within the building. The venue was designed by architecture office Bucher Partner with general contracting by Methabau and AV systems integration by Event AG.
Program
WSDG’s services were commissioned for room acoustics and electroacoustics. The WSDG design team was tasked with ensuring excellent conditions in the venue area suitable for all manner of event programming as well as in the foyer leading into the venue. In addition to this, a number of smaller, partially variable, breakout rooms for conferencing situations needed to be acoustically treated as well
Design
The venue has a pair of line arrays allowing flexibility for the types of events it can host. The L’Acoustics K3 is utilized for concerts and larger touring acts, and a Tannoy Q-Flex Line Array is used for smaller events in the multiple configurations of the venue. The stage is also motorized and can be raised or lowered depending on the needs of the event.
The WSDG design team recommended a reorientation of the stage and reshaping of the balcony to redirect sound reflections away from the stage. The improved angles directed them towards acoustic absorption in the ceiling thus ensuring a more organic listening experience for the audience. The team also installed a slotted Helmholtz Resonator behind the stage for improved low frequency control. The resulting stage sound is very controlled with a low reverberation time.
The interior foyer is utilized as a bar and entrance to the main venue. The WSDG design team utilized micro-perf wood treatment in the walls to vastly improve speech intelligibility in the foyer as well as in the various meeting rooms.