The Burj Khalifa in Dubai’s landmark Downtown development has already become a global icon, officially the world’s tallest building following the inauguration ceremony on January 4^th, and a symbol of Dubai’s ever growing international status and determination to set new benchmarks in architecture and engineering. With such a landmark construction project, comes a need to consider every detail carefully and so every component of the development has been specified with the highest quality in mind. This premium specification extends to the installed sound system, and so it’s not surprising to find Tannoy’s industry renowned range of in-ceiling and in-wall loudspeakers integrated throughout the vast structure, on almost every single one of its 160 habitable floors in fact.

Over 5,000 of the Scottish-based speaker manufacturer’s CMS Series in-ceiling loudspeakers have been installed, along with over 1,000 IW Series in-wall speakers, providing an unrivalled standard of audio coverage throughout the many internal spaces of this vertical city including the lobbies, corridors, terraces and reception areas of all publically accessible floors. The majority of the in-ceiling loudspeakers installed were CMS 501PI, which benefit from being supplied with a separate pre-install back can. These zinc plated, fully wired back cans are designed to be pre-installed into newly constructed, non-suspended ceilings leaving the product to be inserted at the final system commissioning stage of the install. This makes them particularly suited to large scale, potentially complicated new-build developments such as the Burj Khalifa, where the contractor needs to get in and complete installation and commissioning in very strict time frames.

Also among the substantial CMS specification were over 50 CMS 801DC, Tannoy’s larger format high power in-ceiling system built around a 200mm (8”) Dual Concentric driver. Designed specifically to deliver full bandwidth audio coverage at higher SPLs, the CMS 801DCs were a perfect solution for more demanding applications such as in the ballroom.

Internationally renowned acoustic and ELV consultants PMK International, who have a regional office in Dubai, were commissioned by Emaar Properties, the developer of the Burj Khalifa, to design and specify the installed sound requirements for the project. The AV installation itself was carried out by experienced technology integrator Bond Communications, who also have a local office, with key involvement in the nearby Dubai Mall and The Address Downtown hotel (opposite the Burj Khalifa).