Conceived as a “giant adult playground” featuring fairground-style games, and three years after the opening of the first Fairgame venue at Canary Wharf, the operators have continued the project with the launch of Fairgame City.
This new venue is located in the thriving One New Change leisure and dining hub and offers spectacular views of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Middlesex Sound & Lighting (MSL) was responsible for the design and supply of the audiovisual technical infrastructure at both venues, where sound reinforcement is delivered via a combination of around 100 Martin Audio loudspeakers (with the CDD6 model particularly prominent). In fact, among Martin Audio’s global partners, MSL is the leading specifier of the CDD series.
 |
 |
As the Fairgame concept evolved, MSL recognised the need to integrate a larger, scalable sound system that could be deployed according to the venue’s requirements. To give an idea of the scale, this basement venue covers an impressive 2,275 m² and includes 12 exclusive games, street food areas, bars and private event spaces. Around 100 Martin Audio loudspeakers—primarily a combination of CDD6 units and SX110 subwoofers—have been distributed across eight distinct audio zones.
In areas requiring higher sound levels, such as the bar—where the DJ is located, with a pair of XP12 monitors—and the private events area, the BlacklineX series has been specified. These zones are complemented by the more powerful SX210 / SX212 subwoofers, while restrooms and ancillary areas are covered by Martin Audio’s ADORN series.
All signal distribution is based on a Dante network, with BSS wall-mounted control panels and Netgear network switching. The entire network, including effects and ambient lighting, is controlled via iPad with roaming master control.
 |
 |
The MSL project team was led by Toby Jones, who also designed and commissioned the system, working alongside Fairgame co-founder Richard Hilton and Chief Operating Officer Toby Cowan. Steve Billington also assisted during commissioning and was responsible for integrating the iPad control system.
In such a dynamic environment, one of the main challenges for Jones was controlling sound spill, preventing audio from bleeding into the shops, arcades and restaurants located on the upper levels. For this reason, he opted for a large number of loudspeakers, allowing the system to operate at lower levels, further optimised through strategic placement at specific heights using Powerdrive acoustic mounts or ceiling suspension.
It was essential to have lots of compact loudspeakers distributed throughout the space, positioned at the correct height and with the right orientation. The ceilings were quite high, so these custom acoustic mounting solutions allowed the speakers to be installed at the ideal height. The CDD6 units provide excellent coverage in combination with the compact SX110 subwoofers, ceiling-mounted, he explains.
This ensures clear and intelligible reproduction of background music, live microphones and DJ sources.
 |
 |
A quick walkthrough of the eight zones reveals CDD6 loudspeakers at the street-level entrance and reception, guiding visitors as they transition down to the basement, where the main activity takes place.
“In the main bar area we deployed four Blackline X10 units suspended from the ceiling using acoustic brackets, along with two SX212 subwoofers mounted with acoustic yokes firing downwards”, explains Jones. “In the private events area we used eight wall-mounted Blackline X8 loudspeakers, with three SX210 subwoofers suspended from the ceiling to provide smooth, controlled low-frequency reinforcement”.
The mezzanine level houses the restrooms, where various ADORN ACS-40TS and A40T ceiling speakers have been installed, along with a pair of ADORN A55T units lining the customer routes to the toilets. This ensures visitors remain immersed in the sound environment throughout this expansive venue.
MSL has delivered an elegant and flexible solution. Thanks to its own system integration, full control of the venue’s audio system is available at the touch of a button, allowing presets to be changed and diagnostics to be carried out remotely.
 |
 |
“The ability to monitor the system remotely via the cloud is invaluable”, says Jones.
Finally, MSL has equipped the system with ample room for expansion, providing a generous number of Dante wall input points for mobile playback devices, as well as two DJ input points to complement the existing Pioneer DJ setup. “The simplicity of the Dante network and the scalability of the system—with so many redundant Cat6 network cables—means we can always add more input points if required”, he concludes.
We couldn’t be happier with the end result. MSL and Toby were excellent to work with, and the quality of the audiovisual infrastructure is exceptional, added Toby Cowan, COO of Fairgame.
