In July 2019, Optus Stadium was voted the Most Beautiful Sports Facility in the World in the Prix Versailles 2019 international architecture awards. The Stadium is located east of the Perth Central Business District, on the Burswood Peninsula, with views of the picturesque Swan River, Perth city in the west, and the foothills in the east. Hard to ignore, Perth’s new 60,000-seat amphitheatre boasts the largest sound system in Australia, with over 1000 permanently installed loudspeakers connected via a state-of-the-art digital management system.
The third largest stadium in Australia after the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney’s Stadium Australia, this world-class, multi-purpose facility is a testimony to both construction consortium Multiplex’s thorough research, and integration specialist Rutledge AV’s design skills.
Nexo was the manufacturer of choice for Rutledge AV, where criteria such as capability, price and performance were crucial. ‘Networking abilities, service support and rigging hardware capabilities were other paramount factors in making our decision,’ notes senior project manager, Elijah Steele. ‘From the outset, Nexo was the clear winner for a variety of factors and, over the course of the project, the manufacturer proved themselves as great partners providing support whenever we required it. We’ve worked with their distributor, Group Technologies, many times before and knew we could fully rely on their support.’
The main stadium PA consists of 18 Nexo arrays, each combining 12 Geo S12 elements together with three LS18 18-inch sub bass cabinets. An additional 200 Nexo ID24 cabinets provide coverage in the spaces obscured from the full Geo S12 range.
With cabinet positioning largely dictated by simulations using Nexo’s NS-1 software, the special Geo S1210 and S1230 modules provide long-throw capabilities for the even coverage required across seating areas. The inclusion of three additional LS18 sub bass cabinets per array extends the LF response to 32Hz at -6dB, with vertical and horizontal control of the system further enhanced by the incorporation of the Geo S12’s Hyperbolic Reflective Wavesource technology.
Optus Stadium hosts a variety of sports and entertainment events, including Australian Football League, International and Big Bash League cricket, soccer, rugby league and union, and has become a lucrative stopover between South East Asia and Australia’s east coast for touring performers.
