“It was a complex piece of engineering.”
That’s what Bill Moore of TECHNIARTS Engineering (Washington, D.C.) said about a custom loudspeaker clamp system, designed by Polar Focus, that was crucial in the recent installation of a Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC24 digitally steerable loudspeaker at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington. D.C.
Because the building is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as part of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, no part of the installation could be allowed to penetrate the building or its decorative stone and metalwork.
The tall, slender design of Iconyx loudspeakers allows them to blend into architecture, and for this application, Renkus-Heinz also custom painted the IC24 to match the surrounding stonework.
Mounting the loudspeaker while staying within the strict rules, however, wasn’t as simple. For an answer, Bill Moore of TECHNIARTS approached Polar Focus.
It was determined that a small balcony support could serve as the top mounting point, while a railing could serve as the lower mounting point. As always, however, accurate data was needed in order to design and fabricate precise loudspeaker mounting hardware.
Moore, working with Polar Focus Engineer Mike Akrep, complied with this need by providing very accurate dimensioning of the cross-section of the balcony railing. Further, Moore determined which parts of the cross section would permit clamping without crushing any of the decorative metalwork.
Working together on these key issues, Moore and Akrep were successfully able to figure out a secure, unobtrusive method of how to mount the Iconyx loudspeaker flush to the architecture without any surfaces being penetrated.
The resulting custom clamp was painted in a “hammered pewter” paint color to match the metalwork, while neoprene pads under the clamp components further protect the metalwork, terrazzo and marble architectural features.
The desired result of a nearly “invisible” loudspeaker – combined with non- invasive attachment – was achieved, with the facility now benefiting from clear, intelligible sound reinforcement for all of its events.