Ayia Napa is known the world over as Cyprus’ main party hotspot, but as its recently opened marina demonstrates, there is much more to the town than its nightclubs. Situated on the island’s south-eastern coast, Ayia Napa Marina has been created to be a luxury destination with beachfront villas, fine dining, high-end shopping, and world-class yachting facilities. A focal point of this new development is an elliptical and conical glass building that houses the Event Centre, a one-of-a-kind architectural marvel designed for open-air and indoor events. Its eye-catching exterior vertical sunshades create a layered and visually elaborate experience during the day and transform the building into a glowing icon at night. This state-of-the-art venue utilizes the latest technology throughout to ensure the ultimate event experience, making Symetrix the obvious choice for its AV control.
Ayia Napa Marina was the dream and vision of the project’s partners – Cypriot Gerasimos Caramondanis and Egyptian investor Naguib Sawiris. The aim for the Ayia Napa Marina Event Centre was to create a flexible events space for up to 500 guests with an indoor hall that could be used in multiple different configurations, while the outdoor plaza required a stage that could support relaxed and refined events into the evening.
Following a competitive tender process, the responsibility for creating the AV infrastructure at the Event Centre fell to AV integrator and Symetrix’s exclusive distributor for Cyprus, MegaSound.
“A major part of winning the tender was our experience in the field for such complicated projects and of course the high-quality systems and after-sales support we offer,” explained, Stelios Petrides, MegaSound Director. “The client’s request for the Event Centre was very clear. They needed a system that could host live concerts, DJ events, large and small conferences, exhibitions, and weddings.”
For MegaSound, the obvious answer for controlling a solution that could handle this variety of uses was a Symetrix Prism 12×12 DSP with 12 analog inputs and 12 outputs combined with ARC-3 wall control panels and a T-5 Glass 5-inch touchscreen for intuitive front-end control. “Symetrix for us builds the ultimate control system,” said Stelios. “They offer user-friendly control, the robust build-quality provides insurance to the client, and they have unparalleled technical support in case something does go wrong. The Symetrix equipment has the main role of delivering the building’s audio control depending on the daily event. The AV system has been programmed in such a way that gives the Event Centre’s managers simple, intuitive control, and the panels can be used to select the different configuration scenarios for the system.”
While the Prism 12×12 was selected primarily as control for the audio system, it actually plays a much broader and more critical role at the Ayia Napa Marina Event Centre. “The Prism 12×12 is utilized not only as a DSP controller but also as the backbone for audio, video, and lighting control,” said Stelios. “There were complex requirements for the project, such as advanced routing from several floor boxes and wall inputs that needed to route to two main audio systems based on each event setup. We knew that we could trust Symetrix for this due to the flexibility of the Composer® site design software. This allowed us to create a custom program for complex routing, equalization, and balancing that could handle everything in the room. The hall can be set up in several configurations and the Prism 12×12 with Dante-enabled I/O expanders was the perfect choice, providing a future-proof solution for further expansion of the system if the requirement arises.”
A great example of this flexibility-in-action is the way the Prism has been connected to various other systems at the venue.
“Besides acting as the main audio hub and DSP for the system, the Symetrix DSP has been connected to the IT network along with the NEC 4K projectors and is the interface for the Zero88 lighting control system,” said Stelios. “It is being utilized to send automated commands via Ethernet to various devices making it a seamless experience for the end user. With so much flexibility in the Prism 12×12, the only limit is the imagination of the programmer!”
While having a powerful system to control the AV was important, it also needed to be accessible and simple to use for the Event Centre staff. This was where the T-5 Glass provided the perfect solution. “We wanted to provide the end user with an extremely user-friendly graphical interface that removed all the issues people have with button keypads,” stated Stelios. “The T-5 Glass was the perfect choice as it discretely handles a lot of parameter changes in the program of the DSP with the simple tap of the touchscreen. Even better, this can be done without requiring the end user to have technical knowledge of what is happening behind the scenes. This means that the client can easily select a source, such as the Trantec wireless microphones, and then which of the two main RCF speaker systems they want to route the audio to.”
In addition to the audio solution, the T-5 Glass also provides an easy-to-use control interface for other parts of the AV setup, such as the lighting and projection. This means elements like the 196-inch and 236-inch motorized screens can be individually controlled from the touchscreen to meet the specific needs of the event taking place.
The end result is one that MegaSound believes more than meets the requirements of the technologically advanced venue.
“We are very happy and proud,” said Stelios. “It was a challenging project but when you receive the best possible comments, this can only mean one thing, it is a job well done!” This view is echoed by the client. “They are super excited, the end result was beyond their expectations,” Stelios said.
Having handled everything from the AV system design to its eventual installation, the MegaSound team can now celebrate the work they have done to create an important addition to Ayia Napa’s international appeal.
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