Norway’s new Åsane Arena boasts L-Acoustics sound system

Located just north of the picturesque Bergen metropole, Norway’s new Åsane Arena boasts an L-Acoustics A Series sound system for the outdoor football stadium and the main indoor stadium, both intended to host national and international events.

Three years in the making, the venue caters to both the local community and national and international competitions. The state-of-the-art facilities offer an array of sporting disciplines, including a new and improved home for Norway’s First Division football team, Åsane FC.

"The design concept for Åsane Arena was to establish a top-quality sports complex with a broad offering and multiple facilities all under one roof,” explained Roald Bruun-Hanssen, managing director at Åsane Arena.

“Alongside soccer and handball, users can practise a wealth of alternative sports. To attract a diverse clientele among local users and youth clubs as well as top athletes and international teams, it was essential to provide professional-grade audio and visual systems.”

The centrepiece of the 32,000 sq-m complex is the 3,700-capacity outdoor football stadium which is flood-lit and boasts under-soil heating to enable year-round play.

In addition to the stadium, a 2,200-capacity indoor arena includes three handball pitches, a gymnastics arena, a climbing hall, an ice-hockey stadium, a curling arena, squash courts, dance studios, a martial arts arena and a volleyball hall.

The arena appointed the renowned installation firm, Lindbak, to help devise and fulfil the interior design project while AV specialist Scandec helped design the audio and video.

“In collaboration with the brilliant Lindbak, we found the best visual and audio solutions to achieve international standard coverage and satisfy spectator expectations,” continued Bruun-Hanssen.

“The whole complex has been designed to a high standard, with consistent decorative styles throughout, and an AV specification was needed to complement the décor."

A mix of A10, X8 and SB18 cabinets was chosen for the football stadium to ensure speech intelligibility throughout the venue’s three spectator areas.

The system design ensures even coverage and minimises noise pollution into neighbouring areas. A total of eight hangs of two A10i Wide and one SB18i in each are distributed across the main spectator area while two smaller audience areas have a total of seven X8 cabinets and four SB18i subs each. LA4X amplified controllers drive the whole system.

L-Acoustics’ A15 was chosen for the handball arena. A total of four arrays, comprising two A15 Focus and one A15 Wide each, point towards the two audience seating tiers. The A15 15-inch drivers ensure a broad frequency response, giving the audience a great acoustic experience for both speech and music.

The wide bandwidth means that no additional subwoofers were needed. Four X12 coaxial cabinets cover the playing area, with the entire system driven by LA4X amplified controllers.

“Effective collaboration between Lindbak and Scandec during the project played an important role in achieving fantastic results,” explained Scandec’s John Idar Bakke.

“Scandec created custom-made brackets that suited the building's construction and enabled optimum installation of the cabinets.”

Åsane Football club was eager to start the football season in the new stadium, opening the new facility with a victory in its inaugural match. Similarly, the indoor stadium has already hosted a women’s international handball competition with visiting teams from South Korea and the Netherlands.

“The A Series gives us excellent coverage and sonic clarity, with minimal visual impact in the venue,” Bakke concluded. “We know that good sound creates good audience experiences, and the reaction from spectators to our L-Acoustics sound system so far has been overwhelmingly positive.”