Electrosonic has provided AV systems design and integration for international law firm, Eversheds, as part of an upgrade to the firm’s auditorium and boardroom.
Electrosonic was appointed by Eversheds to work alongside main contractor and interior designer Action Workspace, to complete the remodelling of the two areas.
The newly refurbished rooms, located at their headquarters in London, include the latest AV technology and contemporary aesthetics to create stylish and highly functional business environments. Both the existing auditorium and boardroom space have undergone a complete re-design in order to give both staff and clients a first-class meeting experience.
“Eversheds needed to meet a variety of key technology requirements for the room refurbishments,” said Nichola Anderson, workspace strategy manager, Eversheds. “Electrosonic were part of the project steering group right at the beginning, to understand those requirements and recommend the right solution to embed into the design.”
The new client boardroom, which was originally a large meeting room with modest AV technology, is now an ultra-modern, collaboration zone. Mounted at the head of the room is a single UHD 4K C-TOUCH 98in LCD. Equipped with ‘whiteboard’ software, the screen allows participants to view and share presentation material and annotate documents wirelessly, from the main display to their own devices and vice versa.
The auditorium has seating for 124 people, with presentations possible either from a top table seated panel or from two lectern positions. To maximise the visual impact in the auditorium, a 3×3 videowall comprised of 47in LG LCDs was installed, providing a central backdrop for the space. For viewing detailed content, one 98in LG UHD LCD was positioned either side of the videowall. At the back of the space is a separate ‘breakout room’ containing a further three 65in LCDs. The AV system is configured to allow the two spaces to be used either combined or independently.
Conferencing equipment in the boardroom includes a Polycom codec, provision for software codecs and a VoIP connection for telephone conferences. A five seat, cloud hosted virtual meeting room has also been included to facilitate multi-point videoconferences. The main display uses a PTZ camera to view the boardroom table while a second, wall mounted PTZ VC camera captures the presenter. Tabletop microphones identify the position of the active speaker and instruct the camera to zoom in and out.
An additional feature in the auditorium are LED colour-changing light walls which add a dynamic vibrancy to the space, giving visitors a unique conference experience. Designed by Electrosonic and integrated via a DMX interface, the lighting system, which includes ceiling lights, allows users to set the room ambience using illumination levels, colour washes and moving colour patterns. Lighting colour and intensity can be fully controlled and stored as pre-sets from the iPad control interface using the Crestron control system.
The auditorium also employs PTZ cameras, which can be used for both videoconferencing and capturing the main stage and the presenter, providing the audience with optimal viewing on the large screens. Presenters can utilise a lectern table equipped with a preview monitor, two goose-neck microphones, HDMI and VGA laptop connections, a wireless keyboard and mouse and a mount for the iPad GUI control system. The presenter table has five Audio-Technica mics to ensure each presenter can be heard clearly.
Wireless connectivity has been provided in both areas by a Kramer Collage system. The system allows for up to six presenters and supports connections from laptops, tablets and smartphone devices. Electrosonic designed the user-friendly control interface for both spaces. AV signal selection is individually controlled via iPads running a Crestron Control app. The auditorium has an additional iPad, giving Eversheds greater flexibility to control the main auditorium space and breakout area.
The auditorium’s audio has been enhanced by two program speakers and 32 ceiling speakers, controlled by Polycom’s ‘SoundStructure’. The sound quality can thus be configured to suit the flexible space, while pre-set configurations can be used to support multiple seating plans. ‘SoundStructure’ is also utilised in the boardroom, for level control and automatic audio mixing, while multiple overhead speakers facilitate speech reproduction. This ensures clear communication between the meeting room and remote participants.
