The Eades, Walthamstow: Build-to-Rent Amenity AV and Audio

Zoned Q-SYS audio, screens and a DJ setup across three levels of amenity space at The Eades, a 495-home build-to-rent scheme in Walthamstow.

Corporate

Completed December 2025

Project leadDerek Pyle, Operations Director

Quick reference: Build-to-rent amenity AV for The Eades, Walthamstow (495 homes, two towers of 34 and 27 storeys): one Q-SYS Core 110f driving zoned background music to 138 JBL loudspeakers across the ground-floor reception, a first-floor amenity floor and the Level 33 sky lounge, with resident touch panels and Bluetooth inputs, a flex workspace with surround sound and a DJ setup. Delivered for Long Harbour through du Boulay Projects.

Amenity spaces on three levels of a 34-storey tower

The Eades is Long Harbour's build-to-rent development in central Walthamstow: 495 homes across two towers of 34 and 27 storeys, managed by Way of Life. Residents share a set of amenity spaces rather than a single lounge: a ground-floor reception, a first-floor amenity floor with a gym, yoga studio, treatment room, lounge, co-working space and flex workspace, and a sky lounge on Level 33 with a residents' kitchen and dining room, a terrace, a BBQ podium and a second yoga studio. Strive AV was appointed through fit-out contractor du Boulay Projects to design and install the AV across all of them: background music in every shared space and circulation area, local control where residents use the room, screens for classes and events, and one central system the building team can manage from reception.

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"I've had the pleasure of working with Strive AV on my last two projects, most recently The Eades in Walthamstow, and they've been fantastic from start to finish. Toni Moss, Derek Pyle, David Horgan and the team were key to the success of the project. Their professionalism, expertise, and attention to detail made everything run so smoothly, but more importantly was how enjoyable they were to work with, managing to hit that perfect balance of being professional while also being fun to work with. Strive AV are exactly the kind of company you want on your team: reliable, creative, and just genuinely great people. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them and can't wait to work together again on future projects."

Richard Millman, Quantity Surveyor, DuBoulay Projects

The challenge: amenity AV residents can use on their own

A build-to-rent amenity offer only works if every space feels finished and residents can use it without asking staff. That meant music zoned room by room, so the gym can run loud while the co-working space stays quiet, and simple controls in the rooms residents actually use. The spaces sit at opposite ends of a 34-storey tower, from the ground-floor reception to the Level 33 terrace and BBQ podium, so the audio had to run from one headend on a network that reaches the top of the building. Outdoor areas needed weather-resistant speakers, and the whole installation had to fit the contractor's programme for residents moving in.

Key Requirements

•Background music zoned room by room across three levels of amenity space
•Resident control in the rooms they use, without staff help
•Weather-resistant audio for the Level 33 terrace and BBQ podium
•One central system reaching from the ground floor to Level 33
•Screens and sound for classes, presentations and resident events

One Q-SYS system, zoned room by room

Strive AV built the system around a Q-SYS Core 110f with a QIO-GP8x8 expander in a ground-floor headend. Four Crown DCI8300DA and one DCI4300DA Dante amplifiers drive 138 JBL loudspeakers: Control 24C/T ceiling speakers in the reception, corridors, lift lobbies, lounges and kitchen, Control C64 pendants in the gym and co-working space, Control 25-1 speakers in the yoga studio and on the Level 33 terrace, and Control 28-1 outdoor speakers on the BBQ podium. Four Sonos Port streamers provide the music sources, and Netgear M4250 AV switches link the ground-floor and Level 33 racks over singlemode fibre. Residents control their own space. Q-SYS touch panels sit in the reception, gym, flex workspace, treatment room, yoga studio, Level 33 kitchen and terrace, and Bluetooth input plates let residents play their own music in the gym, yoga studio, treatment room, kitchen, terrace and at four points around the BBQ podium. Staff can manage every zone from the reception panel or an iPad. The first-floor flex workspace is set up for presentations, screenings and events: a Samsung 85 inch display, Extron pendant speakers on a Powersoft Mezzo amplifier, an Extron SSP-200 surround processor and its own Q-SYS Core Nano. On Level 33, Samsung 65 inch screens serve the yoga studio and resident signage, and a DJ point with its own Bluetooth input turns the sky lounge into an events space.

What went into each level
Level	Spaces	Audio	Control and extras
Ground floor	Reception and entrance, mail room and parcel store, corridors, lift lobbies, WCs	JBL Control 24C/T ceiling speakers (11 pairs in the reception)	Q-SYS TSC-101 touch panel at reception; AV headend
First floor amenity	Gym, yoga studio, treatment room, lounge, co-working space and kitchen, corridors	JBL Control C64 pendants (8 pairs in the gym), Control 24C/T ceiling speakers, Control 25-1 in the yoga studio	Q-SYS touch panels and Bluetooth input plates in the gym, yoga studio and treatment room
First floor flex workspace	Presentations, screenings and events	Extron pendant speakers, Extron SSP-200 surround processor	Samsung 85 inch display, Q-SYS Core Nano, TSC-101 panel, Kramer HDMI switching
Level 33 sky lounge	Lounge, residents' kitchen and dining, terrace, BBQ podium, yoga studio	JBL Control 28-1 outdoor speakers (5 pairs on the BBQ podium), Control 25-1 on the terrace, ceiling speakers inside	Touch panels in the kitchen and on the terrace, 4 Bluetooth plates at the BBQ podium, DJ point with Bluetooth input, Samsung 65 inch screens
Headend	Ground floor and Level 33 racks	Q-SYS Core 110f, QIO-GP8x8 expander, 4 Crown DCI8300DA and 1 DCI4300DA Dante amplifiers, 4 Sonos Port streamers	Netgear M4250 AV switches linked over singlemode fibre, iPad control

Featured Solution

One Q-SYS System, Every Zone

Q-SYS Core 110f and five Crown Dante amplifiers drive 138 JBL loudspeakers from a ground-floor headend.

Resident Control

Q-SYS touch panels and Bluetooth input plates in the gym, yoga studio, kitchen, terrace and BBQ podium.

Flex Workspace

Samsung 85 inch display, Extron SSP-200 surround sound and its own Q-SYS Core Nano for screenings and events.

Level 33 Sky Lounge

Outdoor JBL speakers on the terrace and BBQ podium, a yoga studio screen and a DJ point.

Products used

QSC Core 110f
QSC Core Nano
Q-SYS QIO-GP8x8
Q-SYS TSC-101-G3
Q-SYS TSC-50-G3
QSC unD610-BT
Crown DCI8300DA
Crown DCI4300DA
JBL Control 24C/T

Show all 20 products

JBL Control C64 P/T
JBL Control 25-1
JBL Control 28-1
JBL Control 14 C/T
Sonos Port
Samsung QE85T
Samsung QE65T
Extron SSP-200
Kramer VS-411XS
Netgear M4250-26G4F-PoE+
Kramer VM-2H2

The result

Project Success

Every amenity and circulation space handed over with zoned audio
Residents control music in their own space; staff manage all zones from reception
Sky lounge ready for events with outdoor audio and a DJ setup

Questions about build-to-rent amenity AV

What AV does a build-to-rent amenity floor need?

At The Eades it came down to four things: background music zoned room by room in every shared space and corridor, local control (a touch panel and a Bluetooth input) in the rooms residents use, screens for classes, presentations and events, and one central system the building team can manage from reception. Outdoor terraces need weather-resistant speakers. More on commercial audio systems in London.

Can residents control the music in amenity spaces themselves?

Yes. At The Eades, Q-SYS touch panels in the gym, yoga studio, treatment room, flex workspace, Level 33 kitchen and terrace let residents change the source and volume for their own zone, and Bluetooth input plates let them play their own music, including at four points around the BBQ podium. Staff can still manage every zone from the reception panel or an iPad.

How do you run one audio system across a 34-storey tower?

From one headend. At The Eades, a Q-SYS Core 110f and five Crown Dante amplifiers sit in a ground-floor rack, and Netgear M4250 AV switches in the ground-floor and Level 33 racks are linked over singlemode fibre, so the sky lounge is just more zones on the same system. See how we design commercial audio systems.

Who did Strive AV work with at The Eades?

Strive AV was appointed by fit-out contractor du Boulay Projects to deliver the amenity AV for developer Long Harbour, working to the contractor's programme alongside the other trades. The project was led for Strive AV by Derek Pyle.