Built in 1982, Maaspoort Sports and Events, located in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, is more than just an indoor arena, it’s a unique, multifunctional facility suited to host a wide array of events. The venue offers two meeting rooms, a sports bar, and a diverse and flexible arena area that can be used for a variety of events from sports to concerts.
The arena itself provides a seating capacity of 3,500 people for sports events and 4,000 people for concerts. Maaspoort is also home to the most successful basketball club in The Netherlands, the Heroes Den Bosch. As a member of the Dutch Basketball League, this championship record-breaking team regularly plays at this spectacular venue. This indoor sports facility also hosts different sport activities such as badminton, tennis and gymnastics.
In addition to the main arena, Maaspoort also offers two meeting rooms and a sports bar – all three areas can be opened up creating one large space or reconfigured to suit specific event needs. This flexibility meant the lighting and audio systems within the venue needed to be robust and flexible enough to support a variety of occasions.
As the audiovisual partner of record, Unlimited Vision and Sound, also located in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, understood what Maaspoort was working to achieve and knew they would develop the perfect solution with Bose Professional and Color Kinetics products.
“Unlimited Vision and Sound was already our main supply partner; they were our go-to resource if we needed to hire audio and related technology for a variety of different events,” said Remco van der Pot, Manager at Maaspoort Sports and Events. “We are always very satisfied with their support and partnership, so when we decided on a new audio and lighting solution to support all the different events, we naturally asked them to submit a proposal with their recommendations.”
After auditing the needs of the venue as a whole, and breaking down exact specifics of what was needed for each space and potential event, Pascal van Engelen, Owner of Unlimited Vision and Sound, identified the best audio solution would be a combination of the Bose Professional ArenaMatch AM10, AM20 and AM40 loudspeakers and the FreeSpace DS100SE loudspeakers, rounding out the system with the RoomMatch RMU208 loudspeakers and the MB210 compact subwoofer.
The system is powered by a PowerMatch PM8500N power amplifier and is configured and controlled by the ControlSpace EX-1280 digital signal processor. In addition to flexibility, the ArenaMatch-based solution also delivers speech intelligibility without compromising a true musical experience. Visitors now enjoy clear announcements made during the height of a game, during a concert or musical event.
Since the initial installation, the results have been exactly what the Maaspoort Sports and Events management was hoping for. Remco furthered: “We received a lot of compliments and positive reactions from our guests on the sound quality and intelligibility from the start. The fact that it meets our customers’ needs and provides the exact experience we envisioned is a win for everyone involved.”
The Maaspoort Sports and Events team is genuinely happy with the perfect audio coverage delivered by the Bose Professional solution, adding that: “Sound is extremely important, especially in a sport like basketball. Music plays a pivotal role in the creation of an experience. The collaboration with Unlimited Vision and Sound reinforced why they are a trusted partner who delivers with our needs in mind. As far as we are concerned, both the Bose system and Unlimited Vision and Sound are definitely recommended – we now have high-quality audio for every event and can offer the total experience.”
“The events here are very diverse – from a dance party to sports events to business meetings,” continued Remco. “So we wanted a flexible audio system that delivered the best quality sound, whether it was music, singing or sports announcements. The solution needed to be suitable for all those different moments and room configurations, and using Bose products means that we have definitely achieved that.”
Unlimited Vision and Sound worked on the lighting side of the project, too, supplying the venue with an upgrade from its previous use of 132 luminaires, each with five fluorescent lamps mounted 12–14-metres (39–46 ft) above the floor. These lights limited the arena in many ways. First, the fluorescent lamps were only producing 800 lux, but 1,000 lux was needed to illuminate the arena appropriately for television filming. Therefore, Remco’s visions was to install floodlights to bring the lighting up to par, which was taking a huge toll on the building’s electrical load. Another limitation was the regular maintenance which required the arena to shut down for repairs. As well as this, there was no coloured lighting and no control over the illumination levels within the building.
With all limitations in mind, a successful reputation for lighting large buildings and a strong portfolio of scene setting, Livingprojects and Manager of Operations Jurgen Bal created a lighting design and worked with Color Kinetics to light the arena. The team replaced all 132 fluorescent fixtures with an LED lighting solution. 30 ColorReach Compact Powercore luminaires (now specified with ReachElite) provided the building with 1,200 lux, more than needed for television filming. These luminaires were installed to give the arena the desired coloured lighting effects, which are dimmable for speeches, or bright and multi-coloured for sports games. These luminaires also provide Maaspoort with the ability to change the illumination levels for different events, which have all been programmed to pre-set levels for ease of use.
The LED lighting at Maaspoort was installed in just four short weeks. The new LED system reduced the electrical load by 58% from 38,000W to 16,000W. The building is now colourfully illuminated with easy-to-control, upgraded lighting and all previous limitations have been eliminated. Remco concluded: “Now, we can highlight the hall in different colours. During the most exciting parts of a competition, we can add an extra dimension to the show and change the colour schemes, adding a new new level to the fan experience.” With newly-improved, high-quality audiovisual capabilities, Maaspoort Sports and Events can provide a heightened fan experience, more dynamic events, and a venue that can operate to its full potential.
This article originally appeared in issue #19 of MONDO | STADIA which you can read here.
