Elektronia Powiśle: from power plant to innovative shopping mall with Bose audio

The work of Bestau and the audio technology of Bose Professional help this historic place , a former power station, keep your design, but adapting to its new role as a shopping mall, and with a sound atmosphere that makes it a very attractive destination.

Bose Pro and integrator Bestau help transform a former Polish power plant into a shopping mall where music amplifies the visitor experience. Visit the Elektronia Powiśle it is an experience in which history is combined, an original and avant-garde architecture and an atmosphere that invites you to enjoy a full day. It is a real estate development located in the Powiśle district, in the Polish city of Warsaw.

At the heart of this space stands a shopping center that occupies the original building of the Elektronia Powiśle, the city's iconic power station, that stopped operating in 2001.

As part of the transformation of this space, Bestau, audiovisual systems integrator company, was in charge of designing an audio solution to set the different areas. To do this, he used a wide range of Bose Professional products..

In addition to the shopping center, This real estate complex consists of three modern office buildings and 103 luxury apartments. Opened in 2019 and developed by White Star Real Estate and Tristan Capital Partners, Elektronia Powiśle is a very comfortable place for those who live or work in it, and very attractive for tourists and visitors who come to its shops, restaurants and spaces for private events, concerts and fashion catwalks.

The building of the old power plant has more than a hundred years of life, an industrial character of great aesthetic merit and an important historical value, as it was one of the bulwarks of the Polish resistance against the German occupation during World War II.

With that background, the Bestau team knew it was critical to respect the historic integrity and visual aesthetics of the building., so any audio equipment that was installed should not affect the design of the place.

On the other hand, for its large open spaces, rigid steel structures, glass walls and ceilings, the old power station represented a very complicated acoustic challenge.

Achieve consistent coverage to distribute ambient music in all areas and offer a flexible and powerful solution in spaces intended for concerts and events, it was a great challenge posed by Elektronia Powiśle.

Bestau's team analyzed the conditions of the place to get a general idea of the coverages, sound levels and suitable mounting solutions, among other elements. In addition, different audio needs were identified according to each area.

For example, among the most challenging was The Market, a space for concerts and presentations that has a post-industrial interior design and raw elements, in which there was no possibility of a solution that required clearly visible speakers.

Something similar happens in the Food Pavilion, offering meals during the day and concerts at night. One of the outdoor squares, full of fonts, hosts outdoor events and requires audio synchronized with water shows.

last, the Beauty Pavilion is a wide open space and high rise, with few mounting options available, but still needed a solution that would allow to adjust the audio of each commercial space under the supervision of a main control system.

Bose Modeler

Once they decided on the overall strategy, Bestau designers and engineers used the software Bose Modeler. It is a 3D modeling program for acoustic design and analysis, to forecast the performance of the sound system and specify the type of speakers and components that were required in each space.

To achieve the best performance and facilitate its management, the whole system is based on the standard of Dante network. In addition, six server rooms were integrated for the amplifiers and signal controllers, and multiple zone controllers were installed to provide the level of control, administration and flexibility that Elektronia Powiśle needed.

In the Food Pavilion, Bose line speakers installed ArenaMatch and ArenaMatch Utility that provide the power, sharpness and coverage necessary both to enjoy a night concert and to liven up the lunch of more than 500 Diners, distributed among its 17 restaurants and three bars. A Bose audio processor is used in the rack in this area ControlSpace EX-1280 and amplifiers PowerMatch 8500N and 8250N.

To go almost unnoticed and not alter the image of The Market, Bestau used ten Bose speakers EdgeMax from installation to ceiling, which provide sound coverage of 90 and 180 Degrees, enough for your area of 421 square meters.

In the Beauty Pavilion were placed 42 Bose speakers DesignMax DM5C suspended from the ceiling, which combines with the image of this space of 1,500 square meters, divided into three areas that house from makeup and skincare shops to a barbershop and a relaxing cocktail bar. Speakers are powered through two PowerShare PS604D amplifiers and a PowerMatch 8250N.

At last, in the outer square with the fountains, eight ArenaMatch Utility AMU206 speakers are enough to provide consistent coverage, wide and intense.

The ArenaMatch family is designed for outdoor applications, so they resist equally a hot summer morning or a cold winter night.

In the opinion of Kalina Palczewska, Senior Innovation Analyst at White Star Real State, "the system meets expectations and is integrated into the atmosphere of Elektronia Powiśle. In addition, regardless of its complexity, its operation is intuitive and allows it to adapt flexibly to the needs of the events".

The result of Bestau's work and Bose Professional technology help this historic place maintain its original personality, but with a sound atmosphere that makes it a very attractive destination.

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