CLIENT
LARMAC Projects
LOCATION
Copper Box Arena, London, UK
YEAR
2025
PROJECT TYPE
Temporary Exhibition / Immersive Experience
Scope
Show control programming, audio control systems, content management and audio guide programming
Services Provided
- →Show control programming
- →Audio control system design
- →Audio guide programming and synchronisation
- →Content management and playback integration
The Brief
To celebrate 25 years of Gorillaz, the band launched Gorillaz: House of Kong, an immersive exhibition staged at the Copper Box Arena in London during summer 2025. Designed by Creative Director Stephen Gallagher and SWEAR Studio and produced by LARMAC Projects, the exhibition guided visitors through a series of themed environments exploring the world of the band.
Illuminate Systems acted as technical designers, developing the overall AV and lighting systems across the exhibition. Auditoria were brought in to programme the show control and audio control systems, manage the audio content workflow and configure the synchronised audio guide system used throughout the experience.
The exhibition was designed as a timed walkthrough, with new groups entering every five minutes. Maintaining synchronisation between audio guides, ambient sound and show effects across multiple zones was therefore central to the project.
The Challenge
The experience was structured across sixteen zones, each containing a combination of projection, lighting, ambient audio and narrative content. Visitors moved through the spaces in groups, while the show sequence continued to run continuously throughout the day.
This meant the system could not simply start and stop for each group. Instead, every visitor needed to join the experience at the correct point in the timeline, with their personal audio guide synchronised to the wider show sequence.
The audio itself was delivered through a hybrid approach. Each guest wore headphones connected to an audio guide device carrying narration and music, while loudspeakers within the rooms provided environmental sound and effects. Keeping those two layers aligned required careful coordination between playback, timecode and the IR trigger system used for the guides.
Our Approach
Auditoria developed the show control logic and audio workflow that kept the exhibition running as a continuous loop while allowing groups to enter at regular intervals.
QLab running on a redundant pair of Mac Studio computers handled the show sequence and ambient audio playback. The timeline was divided into repeating five-minute cycles, ensuring that each group entered the experience at the correct point in the programme.
The audio guide system used RSF OP6 devices paired with Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones. Infrared emitters within each zone provided timecode triggers that kept every guide aligned with the show clock. If a device was restarted or replaced during operation it would automatically resynchronise with the sequence.
Ambient audio throughout the exhibition was processed through a Q-SYS Core 110F, with AES67 used for audio transport across the site network. Auditoria also managed the audio content distribution and programming required for both headphone and loudspeaker playback.
Technical Highlights:
Audio Design
Q-SYS Core 110F DSP
AES67 network audio transport
RSF OP6 audio guides
RSF EMZ-IP IR trigger interfaces with RAD series emitters
Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones with adjustable transparency mode
95 loudspeakers across 16 exhibition zones
84 channels of amplification
Show Control
Redundant Mac Studio systems running QLab 5
Five-minute cycle timing structure allowing continuous operation
MIF-4 display for operational timing cues
The Results
House of Kong ran for 28 days with a continuous flow of visitors moving through the exhibition.
The show control and audio systems maintained synchronisation across all zones, allowing groups to enter every five minutes without interrupting the experience. In-ear narration and music remained aligned with the ambient soundscape in each room, preserving the intended timing of the exhibition.
The system operated reliably throughout the run, supporting the production team’s requirement for uninterrupted operation across the full programme.
Acknowledgements
Our Client
LARMAC Projects
Our Team
Joe Callister – Show Control Programming, Audio Control Systems, Content Management and Audio Guide Programming
Creative Direction
SWEAR Studio
Technical Design
Illuminate Systems – Callum Phenix
Audio Content Production – Ben Ringham
Lighting Design – Pixel Mappers
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