GCCEC COMPLETES PHASE ONE OF MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR TECH INVESTMENT 

Australian-first lighting technology has been installed across its four Exhibition Halls as part of phase one of a lighting, sound and technical infrastructure project.

The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) has completed a multimillion-dollar upgrade to the lighting, sound and technical infrastructure across its four exhibition halls, giving event organisers greater flexibility, production efficiency and creative control.

The Australian-first GDS lighting system features 168 new LED fixtures and more than 840 individually controllable colour channels, giving users precise control. The lighting can be programmed as one unified environment or tailored individually, enabling everything from subtle exhibition ambience to bold colour washes for gala dinners and special events.

The initial phase also includes new speakers, upgraded cabling and a broadcast-standard network-based signal distribution system. The new network allows visual content and AV systems to be distributed more efficiently across the venue, supporting seamless event delivery.

The investment gives clients a wider range of production solutions across different budgets, including lighting treatments that can deliver maximum visual impact at minimal additional cost. More complex briefs can now draw on a full suite of upgraded lighting, sound and network infrastructure.

“Our clients should not have to choose between creative ambition and efficient delivery. This product gives them both, with greater freedom to transform our Exhibition Halls while reducing the time, complexity and cost involved in bringing an event to life,” said Nick Jeffrey, General Manager of the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“We want organisers to see the Exhibition Halls as a creative canvas, not simply a space to fill. This technology gives us greater scope to shape the atmosphere and identity of an event from the moment delegates walk through the doors,” he added.

The project forms part of a $3 million investment in technology across the venue over the past 18 months, enhancing the Centre’s ability to deliver more creative, efficient and technically sophisticated events for clients and audiences.

GDS Lighting System

The Exhibition Halls have been upgraded with 168 GDS Sirius Pro 120W RGBWW LED fixtures, powered by the GDS DriveHub system. Rather than replacing the existing 22-year-old track infrastructure, the project converted the legacy 240 VAC track to 48 VDC, allowing the existing infrastructure to be retained while significantly reducing installation costs and increasing the number of fixtures that could be supported on each circuit.

Lighting control has been upgraded from grandMA2 to grandMA3, with the venue’s house show file migrated to the new platform. The system has also been integrated with Q-SYS, allowing everyday lighting control from iPads while retaining full grandMA3 functionality for productions requiring individual fixture control.

Public Address System

The Exhibition Hall public address system was upgraded from 6-inch Electro-Voice 100 V loudspeakers to 12-inch Electro-Voice 100 V loudspeakers, significantly improving speech intelligibility, dynamic range and overall audio quality. New amplification, zoning and cabling infrastructure provide greater operational flexibility and allow the system to support a wider variety of event formats.

Broadcast Signal Distribution

The first deployment of Riedel MediorNet at GCCEC. The Exhibition Halls have been equipped with a combination of MicroN UHD and HorizoN nodes connected via a new venue-wide fibre infrastructure. The system provides real-time routing of video, audio and data, allowing signals to be distributed anywhere in the Exhibition Halls without the need for dedicated point-to-point cabling. The MediorNet deployment forms the foundation for future expansion into the Arena as part of the venue’s staged technology roadmap.