In the heart of Northampton's Abington Square is a former art deco ABC cinema dating back to the 1930's. Designed by William Riddell Glen, the ABC house architect known for his classic cinema designs, the grade II listed building has been recently restored to its former glory after sitting empty for many years and is now a fully integrated conference centre, theatre and multi-purpose venue.

Called the Deco after the original theatre, the centre also has another important function: it is home to the Northampton branch of the Jesus Fellowship, a Christian Church devoted to helping some of society's most vulnerable people. The building is owned by the Fellowship and while parts of it operate as a Church Centre on a daily basis, the conference and theatre facilities are independent of the church part of the building.

"The restoration was carried out under the watchful eye of English Heritage, and used Glen's original plans and photographic records to restore it," said Ed Hunt the centre's project manager. "We used only traditional materials and construction methods to ensure that the quality was superb and that's reflected in the stunning venue we have today," he continued.

Ensuring high standards was equally important when it came to selection of the PA system in the main auditorium and various other rooms. "We chose to use d&b; audiotechnik sound equipment after using it for many years in hire situations," said Hunt. "We'd used other manufacturer's equipment but always found that d&b; performed better over all."

In the main 950 seat auditorium d&b;'s Qi-Series installation loudspeakers were installed, one of the first in the UK. In addition, there are E3s, E0s and E12s in two former smaller cinemas, which are now function rooms, the Doré suite and the Glen suite. Pro-audio specialists, Wigwam Acoustics, installed the system. "We're extremely happy with the installation," said Hunt. "The result is just awesome. The system does everything we need and it does it extremely well." One other small but significant point is that to blend in with the décor, the speaker boxes are actually a delicate shade of blush pink!

Source: L&Si; Online