Zoned audio for modern student living in Sheffield.
The Building
Hollis Croft is a student accommodation development in Sheffield, designed around shared living, social spaces and a premium resident experience.
For a building with gyms, games rooms, reception areas, private dining and a sky lounge, audio is not just background noise. It helps shape how each space feels, how residents use the building, and how easily the on-site team can manage different environments throughout the day.
SCCI Alphatrack was appointed to provide a commercial audio system that could support multiple zones across the property, with simple control, reliable performance, and a discreet finish.
The Brief
The requirement was to deliver a flexible, centrally managed audio system across key communal and operational areas.
The system needed to support a range of spaces, including:
Areas covered
- Lower ground floor studio
- Lower ground floor gyms
- Lower ground floor games den
- Ground floor entrance and reception
- Staff office and back-of-house kitchen
- Ground floor lift lobby
- Mezzanine games den
- Level 10 private dining
- Level 26 sky lounge
Each area had a different purpose, so a one-size-fits-all audio approach would not have worked. The gyms needed energy. The reception and entrance needed a more controlled feel. Social spaces needed atmosphere. Private dining and the sky lounge needed a polished resident experience.
The objective was to create an audio system that could adapt to each area’s purpose, while remaining simple, consistent and easy for the team to manage.
The Technology
SCCI Alphatrack designed the system around Sonance Commercial speakers and Yamaha Commercial Audio control and processing.
Across the property, Sonance in-ceiling and pendant speakers were specified to suit the layout, ceiling type and intended use of each area. Subwoofers and woofers were included in selected spaces where a fuller sound was required, including the gyms, games den, private dining area and sky lounge.
The audio system is powered through a centralised Yamaha Commercial Audio backend, including multi-channel amplification and digital signal processing. This allows audio to be managed across different zones, rather than treating the building as one single space.
Yamaha wall-mounted control panels were included for local control in agreed locations, with an iPad and docking station at reception providing a custom control interface for the wider system.
Supporting infrastructure included rack build, power distribution, commercial speaker cabling, network equipment, AV programming, commissioning, testing and handover.
The Outcome
The finished system gives Hollis Croft a flexible audio setup that supports the building’s resident experience and operational needs.
Different areas can now be treated in different ways, helping the team create the right atmosphere across reception, leisure, social and premium resident spaces.
For residents, the technology sits naturally in the background. For the site team, it provides practical control without unnecessary complexity.
It is exactly what a modern shared living environment needs: connected technology that makes the building feel more considered, more usable, and easier to manage.
Planning Audio for a Residential or Shared Living Project?
From zoned commercial audio and AV to network infrastructure and control systems, SCCI Alphatrack helps create connected environments that work in the real world.
connect@sccialphatrack.co.uk or +44 (0)1279 630 400
