The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. The British Academy invests in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engages the public with fresh thinking and debates, and brings together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone.
Sennheiser was engaged to equip the historic Georgian home of the British Academy with a modern audio solution that preserved the venue’s architectural character while delivering consistently clear speech intelligibility and immersive sound for lectures, conferences and hybrid events. The brief demanded minimal visual impact, reliable capture for live streaming, and simple operation for in-house staff.
The lower ground floor has been transformed from a labyrinth of pre‑war corridors into three adaptable, turnkey event spaces: the Wohl Gallery, the SHAPE Room and the Lecture Room. Each fully equipped with modern AV so clients no longer need to rely on repeated external kit roll‑ins. AV designer Paul Marshall of Recursive explains that the project pivoted from blank white‑box rooms to three distinct, purpose‑built environments to ensure consistently high‑quality AV without compromise. Recursive worked closely with Wright & Wright Architects to ensure technical upgrades sat sympathetically within the heritage fabric, preserving sightlines and finishes while accommodating modern infrastructure.
All three lower ground spaces are fitted with Sennheiser
TeamConnect Ceiling 2,
MobileConnect, and
SpeechLine Digital Wireless microphones, networked over Dante and managed centrally via a mezzanine control room using Sennheiser
Control Cockpit. Marshall notes that prior experience using
TCC 2 in nearby heritage sites proved the
TCC 2’s deliver wide coverage without visible hardware, and that the automatic adaptive beamforming and
TruVoicelift functionality provide clear capture for Q&A and presentations without podium microphones that would disrupt the interiors.
MobileConnect was chosen as a future‑proof alternative to induction loops, which were deemed impractical because of the solid wooden floors, and enables streaming and distributed audio routing throughout the building.
The integrated system delivers transparent, tuneable speech capture in acoustically demanding rooms, consistent hybrid‑event streaming, simplified operation for in‑house staff and flexible Dante routing to FOH, recording or remote audiences. The installation future‑proofs the Academy with a scalable, networked AV backbone ready for diverse event formats while maintaining the building’s period character. Mike Breen, Head of Systems Integration at Media Powerhouse, stresses that from quad projection to ceiling arrays every detail was selected to enhance the user experience and showcase what modern technology can achieve in a heritage space.
On the ground and upper floors, CSL Integration blended advanced AV with sensitive conservation work to deliver practical meeting and event venues. The Reading Room, once William Gladstone’s dining hall, now functions as a multi‑purpose space with
TCC 2 microphones,
SpeechLine Digital Wireless and Q‑SYS systems to support lectures and presentations. The library received a similar discrete installation, with cabling carefully routed by lifting flooring rather than altering listed ceilings or walls. Upper‑floor boardroom spaces such as the Helen Langan Room were equipped with
TeamConnect Ceiling Medium (TCC M) microphones, Logitech Tap touchscreens and
SpeechLine Digital Wireless, providing seamless conferencing for smaller groups. CSL’s David Dempsey reflects that modern systems like Sennheiser’s automatic dynamic beamforming and
TruVoicelift now deliver speech intelligibility and freedom of movement that were previously unattainable in heritage environments.
The outcome was immediate and measurable: natural, intelligible speech across lectures and panels, reliable hybrid-event capture and streaming, faster setups and reduced sound checks, and an installation that respects the Academy’s Georgian interiors through carefully selected, minimally invasive hardware. The solution future-proofs the venue with a scalable, networked AV backbone ready for diverse event formats.
