Complete AV Upgrade: Salvation Army Temple, Exeter.

Church

Published: May 1, 2026

A £50,000 project; helping connect a building with the community through technology.

The Salvation Army Temple in Exeter is one of the largest in the southwest and has undergone a complete renovation project to give it a new lease of life in the heart of the city.

It is a large building used regularly, not just by the Salvation Army but also by different organisations throughout the local community. The building has needed renovation for a while, and this project was over 3 years in the making, from planning to finishing the renovations.

The challenge – flexible and future-proof

The client was keen to ensure that the building was future-proofed by installing a high-quality sound and visual system for those in attendance, as well as a professional streaming setup to attract online visitors who could join in. This meant that a comprehensive equipment list was formed and APi worked closely with the client and the builders to ensure that the equipment positions were carefully chosen.

As with any large renovation project, APi’s engineers needed to be on-site at the correct times to fit in with the work of the other contractors, which can often prove hard to organise with so many contractors involved. The complete renovation made cable routes much easier as they could be run under floorboards and in walls before they were plastered over, resulting in a very clean installation.

Flexibility and future-proofing were key considerations, to cope with the demands from the variety of users.

Our Solution:

It was a case of starting from scratch for this project, with all the old equipment and cabling removed as part of the renovation works. As with any APi installation, great care was taken to ensure that the AV system would not be too obtrusive when fitted, as well as focusing on the simplicity of use for the volunteers who would be operating the equipment each week.

Much like other building projects, plans evolved as the work progressed and changes were made to the design and layout of the space. The specification was narrowed down to column line array loudspeakers at the front of the space to cover upstairs and downstairs, with additional speakers mounted in the rear section, which is now cut off from the main space with a set of sliding doors. Two subwoofers were installed in the temple to reinforce the lower frequencies when music was played through the system.

The visual system was rather more complex, with a total of six flatscreen displays installed throughout the building and a 4m wide fixed screen and laser projector for the main screen on the front wall. The projection screen was made to be a feature on the front wall at the request of the client, who did not want an electrically retractable screen. Because the screens were all going to be used either together or for separate content, an HDMI matrix was installed to handle independent routing to each screen, including a pair of 55” 4K displays mounted to the front of the gallery for the band and worship leaders to use as confidence monitors.

Just above the projector on the front of the gallery, we mounted a PTZ camera for streaming the service online, complete with an ambient microphone to capture the music by the band for those watching online to enjoy too.

The Outcome:

Although this project had us going back to the drawing board a few times as the renovation work evolved, the building now benefits from a high-quality audio-visual system, which can serve both the Salvation Army members who use it, as well as other community members who can come in and enjoy the facilities it offers.

The work was completed on time, and the grand opening ceremony went down without any technical difficulties, thanks to the hard work of our engineers who spent hours testing and commissioning the system following the completion of the installation.

All control of the system was either from an iPad or a custom control interface, with a layout designed with the user in mind, to ensure simple operation, despite the large scale of the system and complexity of the equipment running in the background.