Mexico. Built in 1998, the Mundo E shopping center, located north of Mexico City, has remained one of the most visited spaces by both locals and tourists from neighboring states, for its modern architecture and innovative concept. However, from 2014, Grupo FRISA, a real estate company, in charge of its operation, decided to undertake a process of remodeling and expansion of the square, to make it more functional and offer a better experience to its visitors.
Gourmet restaurants, open spaces, green areas and luxury shops were the basic ingredients for the development of this renovated shopping center, composed of 300 commercial premises, distributed in an area of 128,000 m2 built, on a plot of 207,000 m2.
The project included a new sound system for public spaces, which was integrated by the Mexican company inSound Solutions. On one year of operation, Frisa Group and inSound Solutions share their experience and the details of this complete audio solution distributed throughout E World.
World E is transformed
A fundamental part of the new identity of Mundo E was the sound redesign in corridors and accesses, both of the original part, and of the extension. Those responsible for the project required an ambient sound that had a great presence, reproduced high quality music and that did not clash – aesthetically speaking – with the new adaptations.
To achieve this, the experience of inSound Solutions, a Mexican company dedicated to the integration of sound projects on a small and large scale, was used. Directed by Santiago del Hoyo, Industrial Engineer graduated from the Universidad Iberoamericana, inSound would begin its foray into the world of acoustics by carrying out small audio and video installation projects for friends and family, and then move to offices, restaurants, bars and, more recently, shopping centers.
"[We chose inSound Solutions] for their experience, professionalism, trust and added value in the project, by solving all our technical requirements and offering us the best price and service," says Mauricio Rivera Torres, General Director, President and CEO of Grupo FRISA. "Within the brands presented to us, Bose met our requirements by offering quality, aesthetics, loyalty and guarantee."
With the difficult challenge of sounding both the original structure and the new expansion of Mundo E, inSound Solutions opted for Bose Professional as the first option, for being a reliable brand that they had already used on previous occasions, and for the wide variety of solutions in speakers for outdoors and amplifiers available. The compatibility of the ControlSpace® ESP880 processor with the Dante remote control protocol was the determining factor.
"Bose is a brand that we like to work with, because of the audio quality it offers and because customers immediately know that when they are installed a Bose equipment, it will be heard well and aesthetically it will be incredible," says Eng. Santiago del Hoyo.
After a year of design and planning, and eight months of installation, in 2016, inSound Solutions completed its most ambitious project to date, which included 882 Bose Professional speakers powered by nine Configurable Bose PowerMatch® amplifiers and interconnected with a central automation system through 19.5 km of oxygen-free copper wiring, plus 1.5 km of fiber optic cable for two zones where the Dante wireless audio connection protocol was used.
Full coverage, with high-quality audio
The first section where the Dante remote control protocol was used was the ice rink, a completely new space where an independent provider performs video-mapping shows with lights and sound at different times of the day. To prevent the ambient sound of the square from mixing with the audio of the show, the system connected via Dante detects when the musical playback from another source has begun and automatically attenuates the volume of that area until it is completely silenced; once the function ends, the sound system is activated again.
A short walk from the ice rink, an interactive fountain offers short shows of lights, sound and water jets that rise and fall to the rhythm of a song. When it is time for the show, the system on the master site redirects all the sound power to a cluster specially designed for that area, composed of FreeSpace® DS 100SE speakers and FreeSpace 3 Series I Acoustimass subwoofers so that the audience's attention is focused on the rhythmic routine of the source. At completion, the cluster lowers its intensity and returns to regular programming by ringing in the rest of the mall.
For the other sub-zones (main corridor, atrium 1, atrium 2, obelisk, fast food area and parking) inSound used a mix of FreeSpace® DS16F ceiling speakers (limited to 8 watts of power), FreeSpace DS 16SE and FreeSpace®® DS 100SE outdoor wall speakers (with powers of 16 and 100 watts, respectively), as well as FreeSpace® 360P Series II "mushroom" speakers in planters and green areas. With this set of equipment, a total and homogeneous coverage of the shopping center was achieved, with sound of great presence, perfectly equalized, which never becomes intrusive or annoying.
After this first great experience when sounding a high-level shopping center, inSound Solutions is already exploring new business opportunities in other squares and shopping centers in the interior of the Republic. Obviously, Santiago and company will once again rely on Bose Professional's range of solutions for future installations.
