Brussels Expo venue chooses TOA for PA/VA system

Built for the World Expo of 1958, the 12 halls of the Brussels Expo plays host to exhibitions and events including the industry show Batibouw, the farming event Agribex, and the ICT technology forum.

In 2008, the management of Brussels Expo approached Prévost System Integration (PSI) to design, supply and install a PA/VA and BGM system to replace the antiquated equipment that had previously been in use.  

Walter Geerts, director at PSI, said: ‘The first phase of the project comprised renewing all the central equipment racks, for which we offered a system based around TOA’s SX-2100. In total there are six SX-2100 input modules and six SX-2100 output modules, together with a series of VX amplifiers. Some 26 TOA RM-200 paging microphones are placed around the Expo’s various halls and patio areas and connected to the central racks. All centralised and local inputs (56 in total) can be directed independently to a different exhibition hall.’

With the new equipment in place, the project entered a second phase, as Geerts explains: ‘As well as upgrading the hardware to a more flexible and failsafe system, the client then asked us to provide a graphical user interface. Their requirement was for a controller that would allow all hall reservations and other relevant data to be entered into the system, without impacting on security issues and logs.

‘What the user sees on their screen is a graphical representation of the Expo space, with each hall representing a separate zone within the system. Tasks such as adjusting individual zone sound levels, changing the scheduling according to a weekly calendar, and selecting microphone priorities are a matter of clicking on the relevant hall and calling up the relevant parameter from a drop-down menu.’