IA PLAZA Shanghai: Audio Designed to Follow the Visitor Journey

Sound in a space designed to be seen from every angle

IA PLAZA is a mixed-use destination in Shanghai that combines retail, leisure and public space across several levels. Open atriums, curved balconies, layered ceilings and strong vertical connections between floors mean the building is meant to be experienced from multiple standpoints at once, not walked through as a single linear path.

An audio system in a space like this has to follow the same logic as the architecture: present everywhere a visitor might stand, but never competing for attention with the building itself. That principle, sound as a supporting layer rather than a visible feature, guided every decision in the project.

Why open, multi-level spaces are acoustically demanding

Large open volumes finished in reflective materials do not behave like a conventional room. At IA PLAZA, metal finishes, perforated surfaces, escalators and the voids connecting one floor to the next all contribute to a complex acoustic environment, one where sound can reflect, overlap and lose definition well beyond the area it was meant to cover.

Visitor density and ambient noise also change constantly throughout the day, between a quiet morning and a crowded evening. In that context, the answer is not more volume. Raising output in a reflective, open environment usually makes intelligibility worse, not better. The real challenge was maintaining clarity and consistency, so that both background music and announcements stay legible as visitors move between corridors, atriums and outdoor areas.

Project objectives

The audio design was guided by five practical objectives:

• Deliver consistent, even sound coverage across multiple levels and zones

• Maintain clear speech intelligibility for announcements

• Integrate loudspeakers into architectural elements without disrupting them visually

• Extend a cohesive audio experience between indoor and outdoor areas

• Ensure reliable operation over long daily hours in a high-traffic environment

A distributed system built around the architecture, not against it

Rather than relying on high sound pressure levels to cover large volumes, the project used a distributed audio approach: many moderate-output points instead of a few loud ones, each covering its own zone with precision.

At the core of the system, the Ecler MIMO4040DN digital signal processor handles routing, zoning and signal control. It is a native 40x40 audio matrix (8 analogue inputs, 8 analogue outputs and 32 Dante/AES67 digital inputs and outputs), which allows the system to manage multiple independent zones from a single processing point over a standard Ethernet network, without the cabling constraints of a fully analogue installation. The Ecler DN44BOB Dante break-out box expands connectivity by converting four analogue audio signals into Dante channels and back, adding flexibility for future zones without rewiring the core system.

Amplification is handled by Ecler eHSA series amplifiers, purpose-built for permanent, high-impedance (70/100V) background music and paging installations, together with an Ecler ALMA26 digital loudspeaker manager, which applies input and output processing (EQ, crossover filtering, delay and level control) to fine-tune each zone independently. Both product families are designed for continuous operation with auto stand-by functions that reduce power draw when a zone is silent, relevant in a venue that runs long daily hours.

For sound reproduction, the system combines Ecler VIC Series in-ceiling loudspeakers with Ecler eMOTUS3 cabinet loudspeakers. The VIC Series uses a magnetic frame that allows fast, tool-light installation on a wide range of ceiling materials, while the eMOTUS3 is a compact two-way cabinet available in an IP65-rated outdoor version, suited to extending coverage into open-air areas. Both offer controlled dispersion, which matters in a reflective, open environment: a tightly controlled pattern reduces the amount of sound bouncing off hard surfaces before it reaches the listener, improving clarity without raising volume.

At ground level in the outdoor plaza areas, the system also uses Ecler IG108 in-ground loudspeakers, confirmed by the installation photography. The IG108 is an IP65-rated, weatherproof loudspeaker built into the ground, with an omnidirectional 360° horizontal dispersion pattern designed for open outdoor areas such as plazas and walkways, where a discreet, flush-mounted source is preferable to a wall- or ceiling-mounted one.

What the research says about sound in large open, multi-level spaces

A 2020 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Sciences measured reverberation time and sound pressure levels across multiple zones of a shopping mall over a full week, then correlated the results with staff-reported acoustic comfort. The study found that headaches and difficulty communicating with others were the most frequently reported problems linked to noise, and that reverberation, driven by hard, reflective architectural surfaces, was a primary factor reducing speech intelligibility throughout the space (Alnuman & Altaweel, 2020).

This is consistent with why a distributed system, rather than a small number of high-output sources, tends to perform better in venues like IA PLAZA. Spreading moderate-output loudspeakers across many zones keeps each one working within a shorter, more controllable distance, which limits how much sound has to travel across reflective surfaces before reaching a listener. Fire and life-safety codes in large public venues typically call for a minimum speech intelligibility index (STI) for public address systems specifically because reverberation in these spaces can otherwise make emergency announcements hard to understand.

Results: sound that follows the visitor journey

The completed system delivers a coherent, comfortable audio environment throughout IA PLAZA, adapting to the architecture rather than working against it. In practice, this means:

• Smooth, even background music across open and transitional spaces

• Clear, intelligible announcements without needing excessive volume

• Continuity between indoor and outdoor hospitality areas, so the experience doesn't break at the doorway

• Loudspeakers that read as part of the architecture, not as visible equipment

• A stable, centrally managed system built for continuous daily use

FAQ

Why use a distributed system instead of a few powerful loudspeakers? In large, open, reflective spaces, raising volume from a small number of sources tends to increase reverberation and reduce clarity rather than improve coverage. A distributed system, many moderate-output loudspeakers covering smaller zones, keeps each listening area within a shorter, more controllable sound path, which supports both music clarity and speech intelligibility.

Does this system extend to outdoor areas? Yes. The eMOTUS3 loudspeakers used in the project are available in an IP65-rated outdoor version, which allows the same audio experience to continue across indoor and outdoor hospitality zones without a separate outdoor-only system.

How is the system controlled across so many zones? Zoning, routing and signal management are centralized in the Ecler MIMO4040DN digital matrix, with the ALMA26 handling zone-level tuning. This allows independent control of each area from a single point rather than requiring separate hardware per zone.

Is there evidence that acoustic design affects comfort in large retail and mixed-use spaces? Published research on shopping mall acoustics has linked poor speech intelligibility and high reverberation to reported headaches and communication difficulties among people who spend long periods in these spaces. This research is general to shopping mall environments; no independent acoustic measurements from IA PLAZA itself were available for this case study.