The University of Toronto Scarborough, established in 1964, is one of Canada’s top-ranked universities and has long been a leader in offering innovative approaches to higher education. The recently built Sam Ibrahim Building embodies this ethos with five floors of lecture halls, faculty offices, and collaboration spaces. Six “feature” lecture theaters were central to the development: Conveyor, Cave, Keystone, Collaboratorium, Cloud, and the flagship Arrow Group Innovation Hall, which features a 360-degree seating arrangement. Each space shared one major challenge: the need for clear, coherent audio.

To address this, the university partnered with Contact Distribution Ltd., a Canadian audio distributor, and integrator Global Unified Solution Services Inc. (Global USS). Together they designed and installed Renkus-Heinz solutions based on UBX Series passively steered columns and C Series point source loudspeakers, chosen for their directivity and clarity. Lead architects CEBRA and ZAS sought to create emotionally stimulating environments that encourage sensory-forward learning.

“These rooms look and sound dramatically different from anything I’ve seen to engage the students and make the learning experience more effective and fulfilling,” said Bill Coons, director at Contact Distribution.

Lecture theater layouts, design, and materials can significantly impact how sound travels. Factors like reverberation often affect speech clarity. By understanding these psychoacoustic challenges, the project team selected a system to deliver intelligible sound across tiered seating and varying angles.

“The overarching challenge for us was providing a solution for rooms that were already designed, with cable pathways already in place,” said John Busza, CTS-D, systems designer at Global USS. “Our installation team had to work with the space they were given, making Renkus-Heinz’s adaptable solutions a perfect fit.”

Blake Markle, manager of classroom technology and film services at the university, initially had concerns about coverage.

“These rooms feature 100 to 200 seats, with irregular ceilings that made ceiling or pendant speakers impossible. All we could use were two arrays on the front wall,” Markle said. “John told me the UBX8 arrays would fill the room with sound, and the topmost drivers would reach the back rows. Once we tested them, he was right. It’s great to work with a partner who listens to concerns and follows through with the right solution.”

Four lecture theaters each received a pair of UBX8 loudspeakers, while the fifth doubled the configuration. The Arrow Group Innovation Hall was outfitted with 30 CX61 loudspeakers for their wide dispersion and rotatable horns.

“The overall caliber of audio intelligibility that Renkus-Heinz is known for is always something to keep in mind in a school setting—students need to hear the message clearly,” Busza said.

In one room, cable rough-ins were lower than desired. To overcome this, the team mounted a second pair of UBX8s above the first pair, rotated 180 degrees so their down-tilt dispersion faced upward. This created a longer array and ensured coverage to the rear rows.

The Arrow Group Innovation Hall’s unique 360-degree layout presented additional hurdles. Suspended loudspeakers would have blocked sightlines to direct-view LED displays and failed to reach the rear audience rows. Instead, Global USS mounted CX61 point source cabinets along the bottom of the central perimeter bulkheads, with three aimed toward the rear and two toward the front in each section.

“This meant the front section of the audience would receive sound from behind; there was no other manageable solution in the space,” Busza said. “However, the performance characteristics of Renkus-Heinz speakers ensured high intelligibility.”

Now, each Sam Ibrahim Building theater is equipped with crystal-clear speech reinforcement and no distracting reverberation. Renkus-Heinz UBX8 and CX61 loudspeakers provide the precision needed to ensure students stay engaged and professors can deliver impactful presentations.

“I’ve worked with the University of Toronto for quite a few years on several projects,” Busza said. “It was an accomplishment working through the construction and design hurdles to deliver systems that meet the university’s expectations.”