WCSU Visual and Performing Arts Center

Designed by Ben Bausher of Jaffe Holden
Installed by Masque Sound

Opened in September 2014, the Visual and Performing Arts Center at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) is a stunning achievement in architecture and technology. Several years in the making, the 130,000 square foot facility comprises three wings – Theatre Arts, Music, and Visual Arts. The Center houses a multitude of spaces including a concert hall, studio theatre, recording studio and rehearsal rooms, as well as an art gallery, painting and
sculpture studios and numerous other creative spaces.

Challenges

  • The unconventional architectural design of the Center’s venues (e.g., the Veronica Hagman Concert Hall’s tri-level, in-the-round seating and variable acoustics)
  • The aesthetic integration of loudspeakers into the venues’ décor

The Veronica Hagman Concert Hall’s unique seating pattern called for a considerable number of distributed fill speakers to provide uniform coverage across the entire space. The main array was comprised of 6 Fulcrum CX1565 12 inch coaxial systems with 10 RX599 compact 5.25 inch cabinets providing front fill. A second fill ring of 14 RX599 boxes and a third fill ring of 8 more RX599s completed coverage, with 4 Sub215 subwoofers stacked onstage in cardioid pattern to reduce low frequency buildup.

The 350-seat MainStage Theatre, a more conventional proscenium-style venue, was outfitted with left and right arrays, each with two Fulcrum GX1295 and two GX1265 12 inch coaxial systems, along with a center array of two CX1265 cabinets. Front fill and under-balcony fill were handled by 8 RX599s, and a pair of Sub215 subwoofers provided low-end punch to the theater. The clean aesthetic and compact size of Fulcrum’s TQ install loudspeakers perfectly complemented the Center’s adventurous architecture – with eight custom colors matched to make speaker cabinets virtually disappear into the décor of the surrounding space.

Pull-quote graphic showing the Fulcrum Acoustic logo and quotation symbol

The clean aesthetic and compact size of Fulcrum’s TQ install loudspeakers perfectly complemented the Center’s adventurous architecture – with eight custom colors matched to make speaker cabinets virtually disappear into the décor of the surrounding space.

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