Located steps from the Lake Ontario waterfront, Air Canada Centre is Toronto’s home to several sports franchises, most notable the Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Add to this numerous large concert events and the Toronto Rock lacrosse team, and it’s easy to see why it’s one of the busiest year-round venues.

First opening in February 1999, Air Canada Centre originally featured a sound reinforcement system that would serve its purpose for the better part of the following decade before being exchanged over the course of about a year.

The previous system utilized long-throw horns to serve the main bowl, with four clusters covering all 19,000 seats, now replaced by a zoned loudspeaker approach.

But before delving too deeply into the new arena system, a look at other expansions in the surrounding building will help to further understand the overall thinking that went into the new design.

Westbury National Show Systems Ltd. (WNSS), a Toronto-based full service entertainment technology company that provides production, design and installation services, completed the installation of the new system that brings Air Canada Centre to the forefront of digital technology.

Key personnel on the system team included John Coniglio, Senior Project Sales; Guy Wallace, Lead Designer; Andy Foord, Technical Support/System Designer, and David VanVeldhuisen, Project Manager.

On-site staff includes Dwayne Brown, Manager Venue Services; David August, Technical Producer, and Courtney Ross, Lead Audio Engineer for Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment Ltd.

Bringing The Show Outside
An expansion includes the addition of Maple Leaf Square, a new structure that will include two towers of condominiums, office space, retail outlets, and large sports bar, all attached to Air Canada Centre via a skybridge.

As part of this expansion, the building’s exterior now features a three-story LED screen that lets fans keep up with what’s happening in the building before, during and after games.

The architectural team on the project, concerned with the exterior aesthetic, came up with a solution to hide the loudspeakers accompanying the screen, a solution that also helps reduce reflections from the surrounding buildings. Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC Live digitally steerable arrays were chosen, with two dual stacks hidden behind metal grating on each side of the screen, mounted on custom WNSS brackets.

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