Silver and gold

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Emirates Palace AV manager Jagit Singh Rihal.

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Emirates Palace’s 1200-seat theatre auditorium features cutting-edge AV and staging equipment.

Set amongst a lush tropical landscape, the meticulously-designed marble monolith that is the US$1 billion Emirates Palace is a landmark monument to the fortunes of Abu Dhabi and the UAE capital's long-term ambition to establish itself as a major centre for cultural production.

Originally conceived and constructed to host the GCC Leader's Summit in 2005, the venue's International Conference Centre and theatre auditorium has in the proceeding period hosted a raft of major conferences, theatre and concert productions, the most recent of which was a three-night run of the critically acclaimed US touring production of Chicago - The Musical.

Key to the venue's ability to attract high-profile conference events and world-class productions is its comprehensive portfolio of cutting-edge audio-visual technology, which is managed by a dedicated IT and AV department staffed by 10 employees.

Emirates Palace director of IT and AV Hakam Sourani claims that the increasing convergence of IT and AV technologies facilitated the need to recruit staff with professional experience in both fields.

"Major facilities of this type worldwide are moving in a similar direction as a result of the increasing influence of IT-based systems and technologies in the audio-visual sector," he claims. "In this sense, our AV systems, which are media-matrix controlled, are leading-edge in this region.

"Our aim is to appeal to clients keen to stage conferences and events with a strong emphasis on AV technologies bolstered by IT infrastructure."

Jagit Singh Rihal, Emirates Palace audio-visual manager, explains that in addition to an extensive array of AV equipment installed throughout the conference centre and theatre auditorium, the hotel boasts an innovative intranet-style broadcast distribution system complemented by 120 fixed camera locations positioned around the hotel's 85 hectare site.

Rihal, who has worked extensively as a broadcast and AV designer for the likes of Dubai TV, Abu Dhabi TV and Sharjah Police, is understandably proud of Emirates Palace's broadcast network, which he both designed and implemented.

"The network is the first of its kind in the UAE," he claims. "Each of the 120 camera locations boasts an audio, video and matrix link, which connects to a centralised broadcast control room which distributes media to the auditorium and ballroom for live playout.

"We also have outside broadcast (OB) sites located 50 metres from the east and west wings of the hotel respectively, which ensures they can be connected by a single cable to our media matrix. Each OB location has 40 video, audio and trax connections respectively. These OBs can be patched to the broadcast room and also to the camera locations."

In terms of the conference facility itself, Rihal explains there are 30 meeting and conference rooms with built-in AV equipment and another 10 that can be customised to suit specific client requests.

"We also have one of the largest ballrooms in the region, which can accommodate up to 2000 guests in total," he says. "It can be configured as three separate rooms if the need arises. There is also a centralised concert chamber located between the ballroom and the auditorium, which is only used for high-profile government events. It's a restricted location that few Emirates Palace employees are allowed access to."

However, the impressive 1200-seat theatre auditorium is undoubtedly the centrepiece of the facility. Designed by UK-based Theatre Projects Consultants (TPC), the auditorium reflects the ‘no expense spared' attitude of the Abu Dhabi government to the Palace's construction.

The auditorium's acoustic CAD modelling called for the extensive application of sound absorption panels, while the surface coating is specially formulated to absorb sound and light. Rihal claims reflective surfaces have been totally eradicated from the interior.

"The AV technology employed in the facility is truly cutting-edge," he boasts. "The software-driven media matrix system provides complete control of the audio and lighting technologies, while the stage trussing system is fully motorised and can be controlled via wireless remote.

"Our stage engineering system is one of the most advanced in the region. The curtains and trusses are software controlled. We also place a strong emphasis on safety and include a dead man's switch to control the trusses."

For multilingual presentations, the auditorium boasts infrared wireless translation and voting systems in addition to eight remote translation booths equipped with plug-and-play technology.

"The built-in audio system includes a 64-channel Midas XL4 console and multiple groups of dual-speaker systems providing side-fill and centre-fill," says Rihal." There are also speaker subs located under the stage, in addition to rear-mounted and balcony-fill speakers."

He adds that each speaker can be individually configured via the media matrix system, providing complete control of parameters ranging from gain to delay and response.

The theatre auditorium's control room features a comprehensive array of AV technologies, ranging from DAT, MD and CD players to DV, DVD and hard disk video recorders.

For cinema presentations, a high-end Cinemeccanica 35mm projector is employed, which features a long-throw lens in conjunction with a motorised retractable screen located at the front of stage. A Digital Projection Lightning series 16,000-lumens three-chip DLP video projector with remote control interface is also available, as are portable high-resolution projectors and screens.

Rihal says the venue is designed as a turnkey facility for touring productions and local clients looking to stage major theatrical and cinematic events.

"We provide the venue and all of the technology required to stage a major theatrical production," he explains. "For example, we regularly host productions staged by Dubai-based promoter Great Entertainment Company, which is run by local theatre identities Raymond and Catherine Gaspar."

The recent production run of Chicago, which was the largest hosted by Emirates Palace this year, did however highlight the disparities that continue to lie between the technical demands of local and international production teams.

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