Washington National Cathedral
Washington, D.C.
Project Type: Renovation
Original Construction: 1990
Renovation Complete: November 2002
A/V Installation: SPLIS
AD Scope: Audio Design
The Washington National Cathedral is more than a place of worship. It is a historic monument and serves as a center for social ministries, worship, music, exhibits and religious education.
The gothic Cathedral, complete with flying buttresses, took eighty-three (83) years to build (1907-1990). Ten years after the Cathedral’s completion, it was already time to replace the sound system because it was installed twenty years before and had outlived its lifecycle. Washington National Cathedral now utilizes significantly updated sound system technology to accomplish the following:
1. Provide consistency of sound coverage.
2. Improve the natural quality of music and speech.
3. Improve speech intelligibility.AD collaborated with EAW to design 15' tall line arrays with individual custom units that allow exact aiming and focusing. The line arrays have both strong vertical and horizontal pattern control which is a necessity to keep energy off the stone walls of the cathedral.
The client wanted a design that would have a 20-year or more lifespan, and as such, we implemented as much of the signal processing as possible within the loudspeakers rather than extensive external processing.
Chancel monitoring systems were included in our design and a portable audio system for concerts and music recitals.
Because the Cathedral welcomes more than 800,000 visitors and worshippers annually, the technology design had to be “invisible”. It had to be functional without distracting from the beauty of the architecture. This was accomplished.
