FRANKLIN, WI — St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, which blends traditional and non-traditional architectural design elements, needed an audio system that could ensure ample coverage while remaining visibly unobtrusive. Audio Design Specialists of Madison, WI found Tannoy gear well-suited to the challenge.
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Liturgical churches have historically employed a cruciform floor plan, a long and narrow nave flanked by left and right transepts. Seating in the nave faced directly forward, and seating in the transepts faced directly inward. In contrast, non-liturgical churches have employed fan shaped seating, providing a better view of the platform for most of the seats.
Excel Engineering, one of America’s premier architects for church design, has pioneered a new approach for liturgical churches that desire a traditional decor, but better viewing angles. The result is a variation of the cruciform plan; a shorter and wider nave, flanked by wider transepts, with a radial seating plan that flows from the nave through the transepts, and with a thrust platform at the center of the radial seating. Most surfaces remain hard to provide an acoustical environment suitable for organ, and the traditional look is retained via stained glass windows, exposed arches, ornate millwork, etc.
The challenge for the sound system designer is how to provide uniform coverage to the radial seating geometry that mimics that of a modern non-liturgical church, but in a traditional aesthetic environment were there is no place to hide them. A recent example is St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Franklin, WI. The acoustical and system design consultant was Audio Design Specialists of Madison, WI. The system included 8 Tannoy V12s in an arc concentric about the thrust platform for sources on the platform, and a separate pair of V12s radiating from the rear right side, where the choir risers are located, to provide independent reinforcement of the choir. The narthex is covered by 4 Tannoy V6s that are time delayed relative to the precedence units in the arc.
Since there was no way to hide the 8 precedence units, Audio Design Specialists adopted the approach of making them an accent by mating them with a ring of rolled 2″ x 4″ steel tubing. The ring approach concealed all of the loudspeaker cable and avoided the cost and aesthetic problems of individual rigging. While not employed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, the ring approach also provides the capacity for assorted accent lighting options.
The reaction to the ring approach has been universally positive, not only by the congregation, but by other architects as well.
