HULL KINGSTON ROVERS

Hull Kingston Rovers has a very proud tradition as one of the most famous names in rugby league, with a long standing and successful heritage that is the envy of many clubs.

Background:

Hull Kingston Rovers has a very proud tradition as one of the most famous names in rugby league, with a long standing and successful heritage that is the envy of many clubs. In recent years, Hull KR has won the Northern Rail Cup, been crowned National League Champions and achieved promotion into the elite European Rugby League competition, Super League.

The club has since consolidated its position in the top flight and achieved a best regular season finish of fourth in 2009 before winning their first ever play-off game in 2010 with a 21-4 win over local rivals Hull FC at the KC Stadium. The new stand will allow the club to take its off the field activity to the next level. It includes new corporate hospitality facilities, from an entertaining and membership area to traditional corporate boxes, and a myriad of advertising opportunities.

Brief:

The new 2,600-seater North Stand at the club’s Craven Park ground required a significant amount of cabling work, as well as a public address system and induction loops. The building will be used as a first-class training facility, so needs to be equipped with the latest technology for IT, business and engineering courses and apprenticeships. Plus, with the 2013 Rugby League World Cup coming to Craven Park, the facilities needed to be up to scratch in order to compete on the world stage. The stand heralds a new era for Hull Kingston Rovers and PDS were happy to utilise their expertise to help with this major installation at a high- profile local club.

Solution:

Supply, install and test 500 Category 6 LSZH Structured cabling UTP outlets in various locations throughout the building on ground, first and second floor levels. Due to the complex nature of the installation it was essential that this was project managed with meticulous attention to detail; we not only had to take into account the customers’ requirements, but given the nature of the work involved we had to also accommodate and work with other trades onsite. This meant our engineers had to be scheduled in such a way that we could undertake the work we needed to for the customer, but also adapt to enable other trades to do the same.

The PA system was configured so that one or more of the zoned areas can be isolated when announcements are made. The system can also be integrated into the existing PA system and be of a matching performance standard to the existing system.

As part of the customer’s requirements we were also tasked with relocating the existing PA system to the new building and keeping this running alongside implementing the new system and features, this itself raised issues with sound delays, reflection and phasing issues. This can cause serious acoustic problems if not handled correctly, which is why we included the supply, installation, commission and testing of new control equipment to handle these issues.

In addition to the customer’s requirements, we also supplied, designed, installed and commissioned a suitable hearing induction loop system that was in the main reception and entrance foyer and the community/conference rooms. The SigNET Hearing Induction Loop solution we proposed meets all the requirements of BS 7594:1993 & BS8300:2001.

Our expertise really came to fruition on this project as the various locations and amount of cabling required, albeit challenging, was certainly nothing we weren’t used to.

Testimonial:

Hull Kingston Rovers’ chief executive Mike Smith said: “We are really excited about the stand opening. It is going to enable us to take the club to the next level, both in terms of matchday experience and our day to day operations. It boasts new corporate facilities and will allow us to offer improved areas for families and away fans.”