Historic Chapel, Modern Sound
By Wayne Cavadi ( Systems Contractor News )
At Princeton University, WPS looked to the future while maintaining the aesthetics of yesteryear.
“Do no harm” was the prime directive when working with the chapel’s pipe organ.
(Image credit: WPS)
Designed in Collegiate Gothic style, Princeton University Chapel in Princeton, NJ, is believed to be one of the largest university chapels in the world. Visitors to the chapel come for worship, weddings, and musical performances, enjoying an aesthetic that reminds them of days of yore.
Unfortunately, so did the audio system.
Washington Professional Systems, which installed the existing sound system in the 1990s, was called upon once again to modernize the Princeton Chapel audio system with technology set for the future—all while keeping the integrity of the university's house of worship entering its 96th year of service.
Let There Be Sound
Princeton Chapel (Image credit: WPS)
The Princeton Chapel is not simply a historic house of worship, but an elaborately decorated one, with high-arching ceilings, ornate stained-glass windows, and a pipe organ. As John Fish, WPS senior engineer, recalled, the challenging installation required a complex system.
Project engineering began in December 2022, with the installation starting in April 2023. The project was complete in September 2023, though WPS provided some fine tuning throughout October.
That's quite impressive, considering the chapel remained in use throughout the project. Per Fish, all work had to cease during services, but could continue in a quiet manner during organ and choir rehearsals.
WPS had the advantage of understanding the old system, which the company installed in the 1990s (and was designed by Acentech). "It was a combination of custom pew-back speakers in the transept and custom-tapered nine-element column arrays throughout the nave," Fish explained. "That the system lasted for 30 years is a tribute to its successful implementation—but within the last decade, the system’s performance certainly suffered from the age of its components."