AV Case Study: Palm Beach Aquatic Centre
This Gold Coast-based aquatic centre turns to The Prestige Group to dive into an AV capability that keeps pace with a busy community hub.
10 March 2026
When Palm Beach Aquatic Centre reopened in October 2024, the City of Gold Coast wasn’t unveiling a touch-up. This was a wholesale rebuild: the 50-metre pool is the only survivor, everything else is new. Alongside a learn-to-swim pool, hydrotherapy pool, and splash pad, are a gym, group fitness rooms, café, crèche, and a fully-fledged community centre.
The brief: create a community hub that feels energetic, welcoming, and safe. The AV had to underpin the atmosphere.
RIP IT UP, START AGAIN
The original consultant drawings spec’ed a simple 100V paging system with a single reception mic. The Prestige Group’s Nathan Wright took one look and knew it would be hopelessly inadequate. With multiple zones, diverse programs, and user groups with contrasting needs, Palm Beach Aquatic Centre required an integrated, flexible, multi-zone approach. “The original spec was really just an EWIS system with a single microphone at reception to do the whole venue, which was never going to cut it,” recalls Nathan.
Prestige started afresh, with a multi-zone solutions that sees JBL commercial loudspeakers installed across the precinct.
JBL TAKES THE PLUNGE
The JBL loudspeaker deployment spans the entire venue, with 12 x JBL CBT70 column speakers doing the work in areas that need full-range high-energy coverage. “The CBT70s are very focusable, with even dispersion,” explains Nathan Wright. “They also fit the design of the venue: they look the part mounted on the lighting poles. They have plenty of grunt, sound great, with a full frequency response, and are resistant to salt and water.”
JBL AWC82 all-weather cabinets along with dozens of JBL Control series in-ceiling and surface mount loudspeakers provide the coverage required in other areas. “I’ve had really good success with the AWC range at other venues – they’ve just been a very reliable, solid speaker,” notes Nathan.
All up, there are 40-plus audio zones, which provide the centre the granular control required for paging and for instructors to address on specific areas. QSC network amplifiers provide the power.
BLUETOOTH FREEDOM
Fourteen Bluetooth receivers are distributed across the facility, each patched directly into Q-SYS I/O frames. These receivers allow staff and instructors to easily connect their device to an audio zone. They simply check in at reception. Reception uses the touchscreen interface to set them up in a particular zone with a radio mic. Once in position, they pair their device to appropriate Bluetooth receiver. The radio mic will be routed to their zone via the nearest remote wireless antenna and the audio DSP.
For instructors, the difference is ‘night and day’ compared to the old ‘drag-a-PA-on-a-trolley’ approach. The same streamlined approach applies in the fitness and dance studios. “We had doubters about range,” notes Nathan. “We went with the Bluestream Bluetooth devices, which are Dante-enabled, and we’re getting 70 metres of coverage without dropouts. I could walk all the way around the pool without a problem. So, no, range isn’t an issue.”
The Aquatic Centre is happy about the standardised usability and results but (in a risk averse world) even happier to eliminate OH&S risks of manually lugging around gear.
PAGING, PRIORITY & CONTROL
Shure ULX-D wireless microphones take care of MC duties and headsets for instructors. Distributed antenna systems ensure full freedom of movement. As far as paging goes, Nathan Wright built his own paging stations for the project. Reception staff can direct announcements to the whole venue, a single zone and everything in between.
A Q-SYS Core 110f handles the processing/zoning and the priority logic for the paging that goes with it. For staff, operation is via wall-mounted Q-SYS touch panels with a dead-simple interface: select zone, select source, set volume. Even casual employees can pick it up in minutes.
PHILIPS ON DISPLAY
On the visual side, a suite of Philips B-Line 4K professional displays sit in reception, the gym, the café and elsewhere. Under the watchful eye of PPDS’s CMND platform and with BrightSign media players, they run live timetables, promotions, and centre messaging. The Philips displays can also take an IPTV feed via the onboard network port.
“I needed a commercial-grade product that could run 16 hours a day,” explains Nathan Wright. “Something that could be centrally managed, and natively handle IPTV – the install didn’t provide for coax… network connections only. The Philips product ticked those boxes. The CMND back end makes updates and scheduling changes easy, and allows us to remote in from our office. Every display on site is on the network.”
SOUNDING LIKE SUCCESS
The numbers tell the story. Attendance has smashed projections, the gym is overflowing with new members, and the learn-to-swim programme is booming.
The AV hasn’t just kept up with demand, it’s helped set the tone for one of the busiest aquatic centres on the Gold Coast.
The Prestige Group: theprestigegroup.com.au
MadisonAV (JBL, Philips): madisonav.com.au
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