Designing AVL For A Multi-Functional Fun Center
By Anthony Vargas
Round1’s new location in Atlanta GA’s Cumberland Mall demonstrates how inseparable audio, video and lighting (AVL) technology and the modern entertainment and hospitality experience have become. The 90,000-square-foot family-entertainment center is packed with AVL tech that complements its inviting mix of bowling, billiards, arcade games, karaoke, casual dining and more. The Atlanta venue also features Round1’s Spo-Cha (short for “Sports Challenge”) expansion, which includes additional sportsbased attractions, such as an indoor skating rink and batting cages; these attractions are also surrounded with AVL that enhances the guest experience. The AVL systems for Round1 Atlanta were specified by Guy O’Hazza of Decibel Studios. O’Hazza has a 10-plus-year working relationship with Round One Corp., dating to his time selling the company music-video jukeboxes. He offered his perspective on the Atlanta installation. “This is my 34th store to open for Round1 over the last several years,” O’Hazza shared. “[For this installation,] we worked very closely with them to put together…the Round1 family-entertainment center that we’re most accustomed to, but they’ve [also] added an additional section, called Spo-Cha, which they’ve tested in Japan and that works very well.” He added, “Most of [the Round1 locations I’ve worked on] have been 50,000…60,000 square feet. This one’s 90,000. So, this is one of the larger ones [in the US], but that would not be true if it were in Japan. In Japan, some of them are seven stories high.” O’Hazza provided a quick rundown of all that the Round1/Spo-Cha facility in Atlanta has to offer. “You walk in, and you are surrounded by 300 or 400 video games. You can walk up to the counter and rent time to go bowling. It’s Cosmic Bowling most of the time, [but there are] enhancements, such as the Moonlight Strike game, that they play every hour. You can also rent time to play billiards. And then there are the dining areas, like a snack…..
bar, a beverage bar and an ice-cream bar. Foreground music is playing throughout the space.” He continued, “Then, if you enter the Spo-Cha area, all kinds of audio and video [technology is] interlaced throughout that entire space, as well. It includes a skating rink, and, as you’re roller-skating, there is a complete light show that changes every 15 to 45 seconds. Next to that, there is a waveboard-riding track, and they have mini motorcycles to ride around in that track. Then, you get to the batting cages. Next to that are about 16 trampolines. And, from there, as you move around the room, there are basketball courts, badminton courts, volleyball courts, pickleball courts [and] miniature golf. There’s soft play for the kids, additional billiards tables and sports-related video games to play. And, oh yeah, let’s not forget, you get to ride a bull, too.”
Immersive, Multi-Zone Audio From the moment guests enter Round1 Atlanta, they are surrounded by AVL tech, including the kind of immersive audio that is common to family-entertainment establishments. “You are embraced by the sound as you’re walking in the door, which is engaging,” O’Hazza described. “It’s a Bose sound system using Bose amplifiers and Bose speakers. For DSP [digital signal processing], we use the Q-SYS system from QSC. So, it’s extremely flexible. We have in that particular facility about 20 zones of audio throughout the space. The Bose amplifiers make it really easy to create the specific zones with the different speakers required for the different areas throughout the space.” The Bose speaker system features 44 FreeSpace 3 Series II Omni pendant-mount fixtures (these are installed in the game rooms and throughout the venue), plus 18 DesignMax DM6SE speakers (mounted above the bowling lanes and skating rink), 12 RoomMatch Utility RMU105 two-way speakers (also mounted above the skating rink), and six FreeSpace DS 40F passive speakers (used in the restrooms and entryway), as well as five MB210 compact subs for low-end support. A total of seven PowerMatch PM8500N amps power the speaker system. The Decibel Studios team plotted the audio coverage of the space using site drawings that were provided by the architect. “We know what we’re up against before we get there,” O’Hazza said. “We plot the audio in the software from Bose, so we know what the coverage is going to be and how much it’s going to take to [provide that