Te Henui Chapel

Set inside the historic Te Henui gates amongst established grounds, the Te Henui Chapel offers a 200 seat auditorium with adjoining function lounge. The location offers a park-like surrounding, ideal for family photos and is less than five minutes walk from New Plymouth’s four biggest hotels – Novotel, Plymouth International, Heritage Devon Hotel and the Autolodge – meaning plenty of choice for your post-event function.

Inside the Chapel the decor is elegant and sophisticated, befitting the occasion. The architecturally designed Meranti Ply ceiling matches the custom made pews and the 360 degree windows upon which the roof sits gives a sense of calm grandeur.

Equipped with the latest in audio-visual technology, your life event has the ability to be streamed world-wide against the backdrop of your choosing courtesy of it’s high definition video wall. Two-way video conferencing allows those who cannot be present to contribute to the occasion, and the entire service can be recorded so you can watch again your special occasion.

Project Brief

The Te Henui chapel was designed to be a multipurpose venue, specialising in life events. The client wanted the venue to be equipped with the latest audio-visual technology that also befitted the architectural design of the space. A high-quality audio system was required to ensure that every word spoken could be heard, regardless of seating (or standing) position. It has now become commonplace for life events to include video presentations, and the client also wanted to ensure these were presented to the highest possible standard, and with an additional ‘wow’ factor. Above all else, it was important that the system was reliable, and simple to operate by staff of all skill levels.

Audio

The audio system was designed to cater to voice, but also full-range music playback. Subwoofers were installed to complement the main speakers and ensure there was a full bass response from the system.

Every speaker in the venue is carefully timed to the front of the chapel. This ensures that there is a natural ‘flow’ of audio through the venue, and subtly draws the attention to the front of the venue.

To ensure that every word can be heard without requiring high volume levels, two rows of ‘delay’ speakers were also installed in the main chapel. These speakers reinforce the output of the main speakers and are carefully ‘delayed’ so that their output blends naturally with the output of the main speakers.

With some events, the size of the audience can be hard to predict. This can often lead to a large crowd that is standing outside the main chapel, and sometimes outside the venue itself.

To ensure that everyone, even those standing outside are able to hear, the audio system was carefully designed to ensure that there is even coverage, and high intelligibility, both inside the building, and around the portico outside.

Video

It is now commonplace for life events to include video presentations.

To show these effectively to a large audience, a large 3.7m videowall was installed. Since many photographs & videos are taken in ‘portrait’ format, this videowall can be rotated between landscape and portrait modes.

The rotation mechanism is fully motorised and silent. This allows the videowall to be rotated between modes during an event, adding the ‘wow’ factor that the client was looking for.

The videowall in the chapel is complemented by addition screens in the lounge, and family room. These displays show live video from one of the 5 cameras throughout the venue, ensuring that a special moment is never missed.

Events that take place in the venue can also be live streamed over the internet, allowing those who are unable to make it in person to be present remotely. Video conferencing technology allows remote participants to been seen and heard if required as well.

Control

As the system is operated by several different staff members, it was essential that the system was simple to operate.

The QSC Q-Sys Core was programmed to control and automate the system. Components of the system such as the audio levels, video inputs, lighting, que playback etc. were all integrated into a single interface, meaning there are not multiple disconnected pieces of equipment that need to be operated.

All aspects of the system can be controlled through a simple touch screen interface, and for more complex events, a ‘cue list’ can be setup that allow simple ‘one button’ triggering of music, video and lighting changes.

“Our reason for being at Eagars Funerals is to deliver a positive funeral experience and the Q-SYS control system ensures we do.With funerals there is no dress rehearsal so everything need to be flawless and simple. Being able to customise every aspect of control via a simple interface means our Funeral Directors can focus on the funeral without concerning themselves with complex technical elements”

Richard Martin, Funeral Director – Eagars Funerals

“Our Te Henui Chapel receives wonderful feedback from those who attend services which is largely due to the seamless integration of Q-SYS control and associated components with the building itself. The brief’s two primary requests were that all attendees can hear every word spoken and the control interface to be simple enough for someone who is not ‘technically minded’. The experience delivered to attendees has exceeded expectations and all our staff can operate with ease. Brief met!”

Casey Martin, Managing Director – Eagars Funerals

Equipment List

Model	Quantity	Objective
Shure MX412-C	1	Lectern microphone
Shure PGA81	1	Ambient mic for live-stream
QLXD4	1	Digital wireless microphone receiver
QLXD2-SM58	1	Digital wireless handheld microphone
QLXD1	1	Digital wireless transmitter for headset or lapel mic
QSC Core 110F	1	Main system controller. Performs all audio processing, system automation, and control
QSC CXD4.3Q	1	Audio amplifier for chapel main speakers
QSC SPA4-60	1	Audio amplifier for office, portico and toilet speakers
SPA2-200	3	Audio amplifiers for chapel delay, foyer, and lounge speakers
AD-S10T	2	Chapel main speakers
AP-212SW	2	Chapel subwoofers
AD-S4T	4	Chapel delay speakers
AD-C4T	26	Ceiling speakers used in foyer, lounge, portico, office, and toilets