One Exchange Square EC2: Building-Wide Q-SYS Audio System

Q: What audio system runs One Exchange Square?

A QSC Q-SYS Core 110f processor drives the whole building, with 2 QSC CX-Q 4K8 eight-channel network amplifiers, a QIO-GP8x8 I/O expander and a separate QSC amplifier for the lifts. Speakers are Bose DesignMax and FreeSpace in the receptions and changing rooms, JBL landscape speakers in the atrium planter and Audac ceiling speakers in the lifts. See our commercial audio systems page for how we design systems like this.

Q: How do building staff control the background music?

Staff use 4 iPads in iPort Connect Pro cases with charging base stations to choose sources and set levels by zone. Sources are 4 Sonos Port streamers and a Denon Blu-ray, DVD and USB player, all routed through the Q-SYS core. Control interfaces like these are built by our programming team.

Q: Can speakers be hidden in a living wall or planter?

Yes. At One Exchange Square the atrium has JBL GSF landscape speakers set into the planter at the foot of the living wall. They are built for outdoor and planted locations, so they sit among the foliage rather than on the wall itself.

Q-SYS audio with Bose speakers across the receptions, amenity floor, end-of-trip changing rooms and 10 lifts of One Exchange Square, Broadgate.

Corporate

Completed November 2026

Project leadDerek Pyle, Operations Director

Quick reference: Building-wide background music for a refurbished City office: Q-SYS Core 110f, 2 QSC CX-Q 4K8 network amplifiers, Bose DesignMax and FreeSpace speakers, landscape speakers in the atrium planter, Audac speakers in 10 lifts and 4 iPads for staff control. Final commissioning on 5 November 2026.

Audio for a refurbished Broadgate office building

One Exchange Square is a 1980s office building on the Broadgate campus in the City of London, refurbished and extended to a design by Fletcher Priest with Multiplex as main contractor. Strive AV delivered the building's audio system for Electracom Projects. It follows the Stanhope PLC fit-out at 8 Bishopsgate, which Strive AV also delivered for Electracom Projects. The scope was audio only: background music and sound across the public and back-of-house spaces. That covers the Bishopsgate and Exchange Square receptions, the atrium with its living wall, the first floor amenity space and lift lobby, the mezzanine end-of-trip changing rooms, welfare and FM office, the cycle stores, the security and post room, the dockmaster's office, the level 13 amenity space and the lifts. Everything runs from one Q-SYS processor in the first floor rack, and building staff choose sources and set levels from iPads.

One Exchange Square atrium with the building sign beside the living wall

Living wall and planter in the One Exchange Square atrium, Broadgate

Full height of the atrium living wall at One Exchange Square

Lit living wall above the atrium planter where the landscape speakers sit

Landscape speaker set into the atrium planter, among the plants

Landscape speaker hidden under foliage in the living wall planter

Audio rack with Q-SYS Core, QSC CX-Q amplifiers, Denon Blu-ray player and Furman power conditioner

Bose in-ceiling speaker above the locker corridor in the end-of-trip changing rooms

In-ceiling speaker above the vanity area in a changing room

Flush ceiling speaker over the basins in the changing rooms

Ceiling speaker above the timber lockers in the changing rooms

Ceiling speaker over the locker benches in an end-of-trip changing room

Shower corridor in the changing rooms with in-ceiling speakers

Cycle store at One Exchange Square, one of the audio zones

Escalators down to the atrium at One Exchange Square

View down the atrium living wall from an upper floor

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The challenge: a live construction site and no containment yet

The audio went in while the rest of the fit-out was still being built around it. On the mezzanine there was no cable tray in the main corridor, and there would not be for another month. Rather than wait, the team ran and labelled the cable to the North changing room zone on both sides of the gap, ready to be joined once the tray arrived. The East changing room and welfare feeds were run in agreement with the site team under the air-conditioning duct tray, because there was no AV containment in that area. Zone feeds had to reach riser R28 on the first floor from outside the building, through the containment on both sides of the loading bay, which needed a MEWP. Some installation was done at night, and parts of the site needed 5-point PPE with chin-strapped hard hats. Every cable was labelled with its zone, its speaker number and the direction of the signal, so the system could be traced and commissioned room by room.

Key Requirements

•Background music across receptions, atrium, amenity, changing rooms, cycle stores and back-of-house rooms
•Speakers that suit each finish: pendants in open ceilings, flush ceiling speakers in changing rooms, landscape speakers in the living wall planter
•Audio in all 10 lifts
•One central system with zones that building staff can run from iPads
•Install alongside other trades on a live refurbishment, before containment was complete

One Q-SYS system, zoned floor by floor

A QSC Q-SYS Core 110f is the centre of the system, with two QSC CX-Q 4K8 eight-channel network amplifiers, a QIO-GP8x8 network I/O expander and 100V line transformers where speakers run on 100V lines. Four Sonos Port streamers and a Denon Blu-ray, DVD and USB player provide sources, with Dante AVIO adaptors bridging analogue outputs onto the network. The rack is a 42U Datacel cabinet with a Furman power conditioner. Speakers are chosen to suit each space. Bose DesignMax DM6C ceiling speakers and FreeSpace FS2P pendants cover the ground floor spaces, and Bose FreeSpace FS4CE in-ceiling speakers cover the mezzanine changing rooms. In the atrium, JBL landscape speakers sit in the planter at the foot of the living wall, out of sight among the plants. The lifts have Audac CENA306 2.5 inch ceiling speakers driven by a QSC SPA-Qf 60x2 amplifier, and on the final day of commissioning the team fitted crimps in all 10 lifts. Building staff control the zones from 4 iPads in iPort Connect Pro cases with charging base stations.

What went into each area
Area	Equipment	Notes
Ground floor: receptions, security and post room, dockmaster's office, cycle stores	Bose DesignMax DM6C ceiling speakers and FreeSpace FS2P pendants, Q-SYS QIO-GP8x8 I/O expander	Ceiling speakers and pendants on the same system
Atrium living wall	JBL GSF landscape speakers in the planter	Hidden among the plants at the foot of the wall
Mezzanine: East, North and South changing rooms, welfare, FM office	Bose FreeSpace FS4CE in-ceiling speakers	Flush, white grilles to match the changing room ceilings
First floor: receptions, amenity space, lift lobby	Zoned from the central Q-SYS system	Reception split into zones nearest and away from the desk
Lifts (10)	Audac CENA306 2.5 inch ceiling speakers, QSC SPA-Qf 60x2 amplifier	Crimps fitted in all 10 lifts at final commissioning
Headend rack	Q-SYS Core 110f, 2 QSC CX-Q 4K8 amplifiers, 4 Sonos Port streamers, Denon media player, Furman power conditioner	42U Datacel cabinet

Featured Solution

Q-SYS headend

Q-SYS Core 110f, 2 QSC CX-Q 4K8 network amplifiers, QIO-GP8x8 expander, 4 Sonos Port streamers and a Denon media player in a 42U rack.

Receptions and atrium

Bose DesignMax DM6C and FreeSpace FS2P speakers, with JBL landscape speakers hidden in the living wall planter.

End-of-trip changing rooms

Bose FreeSpace FS4CE in-ceiling speakers across the East, North and South changing rooms and welfare areas.

Lifts

Audac CENA306 2.5 inch ceiling speakers in 10 lifts, driven by a QSC SPA-Qf 60x2 amplifier.

iPad control

4 iPads in iPort Connect Pro cases with charging base stations, so staff can change sources and levels by zone.

Handed over in November 2026

Delivery

Final commissioning on 5 November 2026
Every space signed off in Integrio
2,202 engineer hours logged
4 control iPads set up at handover

Questions about the One Exchange Square audio system

What audio system runs One Exchange Square?

A QSC Q-SYS Core 110f processor drives the whole building, with 2 QSC CX-Q 4K8 eight-channel network amplifiers, a QIO-GP8x8 I/O expander and a separate QSC amplifier for the lifts. Speakers are Bose DesignMax and FreeSpace in the receptions and changing rooms, JBL landscape speakers in the atrium planter and Audac ceiling speakers in the lifts. See our commercial audio systems page for how we design systems like this.

How do building staff control the background music?

Staff use 4 iPads in iPort Connect Pro cases with charging base stations to choose sources and set levels by zone. Sources are 4 Sonos Port streamers and a Denon Blu-ray, DVD and USB player, all routed through the Q-SYS core. Control interfaces like these are built by our programming team.

Can speakers be hidden in a living wall or planter?

Yes. At One Exchange Square the atrium has JBL GSF landscape speakers set into the planter at the foot of the living wall. They are built for outdoor and planted locations, so they sit among the foliage rather than on the wall itself.

How do you install audio while the rest of a building is still being fitted out?

By planning around the other trades. Here the team pre-ran and labelled cable on both sides of a corridor that had no cable tray yet, ran feeds under the air-conditioning duct tray where there was no AV containment, worked some nights and used a MEWP to reach the first floor riser. Every cable was labelled by zone, speaker number and signal direction. More on how we run sites on our installation page.