Year round, the editors at SCN highlight only a fraction of the thousands of installs integrators and consultants complete each year. We know that for many of our readers, seeing the projects going on and what solutions are being deployed in them is a top feature of this magazine each issue. That’s one reason why for the second year, we present this Fall Yearbook Edition of SCN, highlighting Installations of the Year. We asked top manufacturers to share with us some of the most innovative and monumental projects completed in the past year. The results conveyed on the next few pages feature a wide breadth of markets—network operations centers, houses of worship, music venues, theme parks, sports venues, museums, government facilities, education, and corporate—as yet another indication that the AV installation business remains strong and diverse.
ROSWELL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Roswell, GA
The Roswell United Methodist Church recently upgraded its sound capabilities with a Martin Audio MLA Mini system, installed by the design and integration firm, Clark. Houston Clark, principal and co-founder of Clark, said the church had excellent natural acoustics because of its high domed ceilings, but visually, they wanted to install a system that could blend in easily. The system Clark came up with consists of three hangs of eight MLA Mini enclosures with three MLX subs flown from the ceiling in a cardioid pattern. A MLA Mini enclosure array with four enclosures is deployed for choir monitoring. Two Yamaha CL5 consoles are used for FOH and web broadcasts.
JOE GIBBS RACING
Huntersville, NC
Kramer’s K-Touch system qualified for the NASCAR racing circuit at Joe Gibbs Racing in North Carolina. A total of eight K-Touch systems are installed on hauling trucks and pit boxes, allowing crews to keep track of races at every turn. Joe Gibbs Racing did its own installations. According to Jim Foley, chief technology officer at Joe Gibbs Racing, the addition of K-Touch to a system that already incorporated the Kramer VS-1616D matrix switcher has helped to facilitate the video switching. Each of the systems installed in the haulers and pit boxes use six inputs and 16 outputs to provide high-quality video from any source at any time. Inputs include broadcast feeds from NASCAR, shots from cameras stationed around the track and from cameras inside the cars. In addition, there are several computers displaying information such as lap times, track position, and weather radars.
STONE HARBOR MUNICIPAL COURTHOUSE
Stone Harbor, NJ
The Stone Harbor Municipal Courthouse, located in Stone Harbor, NJ, upgraded its PA system to a Yamaha Commercial Installation Solutions (CIS) system, thanks to the talents of ACIR Professional of Mays Landing, NJ. The municipal court’s new system is comprised of one Yamaha MTX5D processor, an EX18 rack mounted input extender, Dugan MY16 card, one XMV4140 amplifier, a wireless DCP4V4S-US, two VXS8, and four VXC8 ceiling speakers. “The Yamaha CIS system is set up to accommodate zoning and mix minus engineering,” said Bobby Harper, vice president of sales, ACIR Professional. “These features are required to get the best tonal quality and gain before feedback on podium-type microphones.”
LIVE WIRE
Scottsdale, AZ
The Live Wire music venue regularly hosts an assortment of national touring acts, comedians, artists, and DJs—all reinforced by a new EAW sound system featuring Anya Adaptive Performance arrays. The main PA consists of four Anya columns. Two 4-module arrays are hung to the left and right of the stage on an “I” beam trolley system, which allows the columns to be moved forward when a stage extension is in use. A pair of two-module hung left to right to the rear of the room, are lowered to the mezzanine level when the system is in club mode. Six SB2001 dual 21-inch subwoofers are located under the stage in a custom built concrete bunker. The rest of the system utilizes KF Series for side and front fill, a QX594i for downfill, MW12 wedges and Avalon CLUB loudspeakers for onstage monitoring.
BON SECOURS WELLNESS ARENA
Greenville, SC
With a 15-year track record of hosting some of America’s greatest entertainment acts, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC, is one of the South’s premier entertainment destinations. As part of a $13.1 million renovation that began last year, a new RoomMatch system from Bose Professional was installed in the arena, and now meetings, shows, and sporting events all have the clear and intelligible sound they need. The system was installed by Pensacola, FL-based Pro Sound & Video, based on the design from consultant Avant Acoustics. During the design process Avant Acoustics’ utilized Bose Modeler software to precisely define the room’s acoustics, leading to the determination that 16 RoomMatch modules would be needed for optimal sound quality. The arrays’ specific dispersion patterns aim the sound precisely onto seating areas and away from reverberant surfaces. There are eight arrays configured with one RM5510, one RM7020 and two RM7040 modules; four arrays using one RM5510, one RM7020 and two RM7040s; and four more arrays consisting of one RM7010, one RM7020 and one RM5560. In addition, eight RM5560 modules are suspended above the main floor, firing downward.
OMNIA NIGHTCLUB
Las Vegas, NV
Audiotek of Dublin, Ireland, along with the help of L-Acoustics’ U.S. team in Oxnard, CA, supervised the technical design and installation of the audio, video, and lighting systems throughout the Hakkasan Group’s new 75,000-square-foot Omnia Nightclub, which is located on the Las Vegas Strip and launched in mid-March with a grand opening weekend featuring international superstar DJ Calvin Harris and others. In the Main Club, a quad arrangement of 12 ARCS II constant curvature speakers is focused on the dance floor, which is directly below a 65-foot-tall domed ceiling and TAIT-designed 10-ton “chandelier” of kinetic lighting and projection. Low-end is handled by a dozen SB28 dual-18-inch subwoofers, most of which are clustered together for greater coupling and positioned below the stage. On stage, two stacks, each comprised of three KARA(i) WST line source modules and two SB18i subs, deliver foldback to the DJs.
PROVINCIAL EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER
Ontario, Canada
Sight N Sound Design Inc., a Canadian audiovisual consulting, design, and project management group, installed seven Lectrosonics ASPEN Series audio processors to manage an extensive voice lift and headphone monitoring system at Ontario’s Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC). The command center is equipped with a 75-foot, 30-screen video wall and 24 ceiling speakers, and it houses workstations for 82 participants. Since each workstation position also includes a local loudspeaker plus an Audio-Technica gooseneck microphone, any number of which may be activated simultaneously, Sight N Sound chose five Lectrosonics ASPEN SPN1624 16 input/24 output processors to optimize speech intelligibility and to eliminate feedback in the voice lift system. The system is combined with a Lectrosonics ASPEN SPNDNT Dante networked processor plus an ASPEN SPN16i input expander and 18 DNTWP multi-I/O Dante audio interface wall panels, which together support individual source selection of various media, including television and computer-based audio, at each workstation.
CENTURYLINK TECHNOLOGY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
Monroe, LA
CenturyLink, a global communications, hosting, cloud, and IT services company, opened its new Technology Center of Excellence—a 300,000 square-foot stateof- the-art R&D center featuring an array of NanoWrap visualization solutions from NanoLumens. The new building includes a technology research and development lab, a network operations center, a customer experience center, and collaborative office and meeting space. Three columns in the building’s three-story-tall atrium are wrapped with NanoLumens’ 5MM NanoWrap LED displays in a 42-inch-diameter circular panel that covers 12 feet of vertical surface on each column. The NanoWraps are attached to the columns by a unique circular mounting system, incorporating a custom metal frame around the column that the panels are attached to, and which was carried out by AV systems integrator American AVL, based in Ruston, LA.
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY MORGAN LIBRARY
Fort Collins, CO
Colorado State University is giving its students a chance to see the world differently—without ever leaving the lecture hall—with help from Sony’s laser projection technology. The school’s Morgan Library is using edge-blended Sony 3LCD laser light source projectors (model VPL-FHZ55) with Google Liquid Galaxy technology to create a 7x30-foot immersive Google Earth experience, which lets students and guests explore any place in the world, in depth with high clarity. The projectors are installed in the library’s event hall, and can output separate images that are blended together across the 7x30- foot screen. The room can seat up to 100 people for a Google Earth presentation, or drop to a capacity of about 60 for a classroom setting with tables and chairs. Accordingly, the presentation configuration is flexible enough to use either for classroom and lecture PowerPoint presentations with just the two outside units turned on, or for the full immersive Google Galaxy experience, with all running at once.
THEME PARK
To enhance its ticketing process, a theme park, which did not wish to be named, recently added outdoor displays and custom digital signage mounts from Peerless-AV. The Xtreme Outdoor Displays were selected and deployed because they are 100 percent sealed to keep out dirt, water, dust, and insects, while withstanding extreme heat and extreme cold through the Dynamic Thermal Transfer system—making them suited for tropical weather locales. Peerless-AV also provided several different models of custom mounting solutions for this project as each campus had different mounting solution needs, which included the ECN 23029 Outdoor SP850-UNL (modified to have a 15-degree tilt), the ECN 24803 outdoor portrait flat wall mount, and the ECN 23358 flat mount for walls sloped at 35-degrees.
EVANGEL CHURCH
Long Island City, NY
Seeking to stay up to date in a constantly changing local community and a media-driven generation, Evangel Church in Long Island City, NY, recently turned to Hitachi’s CP-WX8265 and CP-X8170 projectors to bring the church into the modern age. The church is currently using seven Hitachi projectors: five Hitachi CP-X8170 projectors for the main environmental projection, and two Hitachi CP-WX8265 projectors for the left and right words overlay. Video services provider, Visual Worshiper, recommended the Hitachi projectors and Evangel Church purchased the projectors through Shepherd Multimedia of Grapevine, TX.
TWITTER CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
San Francisco, CA
Last June, Twitter opened its 8,000 square-foot Lodge at its headquarters in San Francisco, CA. Sunnyvale-based AV integrator Thresher Communications created the AV design standards used in all of the social media company’s offices worldwide, which include extensive use of Crestron technology. Thresher used nine Planar 46-inch displays mounted in a 3x3 array. Most often the video wall carries a single, 5.5x10-foot image, but each of its displays can show a separate channel. Also included is a preset on the Crestron control panel for a six-image display, with four screens carrying a single program and the remaining screens with five more. The video conferencing system includes a high definition codec with two pan/tilt/zoom cameras, one mounted on a pull-out shelf next to the video wall, to capture local meeting participants, and one mounted opposite the video wall, to capture presenters. Staff can use the video wall to view up to nine images including one or two laptops screens, a near-end preview, and multiple farend sites. The video wall and the other TVs are fed by a DM 32X32 switcher, which allows users to send any source to any combination of the displays.
SOUNDBOX
San Francisco, CA
The Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system plays a keystone element in the San Francisco Symphony’s radical new strategy for attracting younger audiences to diverse live music at SoundBox, which occupies Zellerbach A, a lofty, 7,600-square-foot rehearsal space adjacent to San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall. At the heart of the system is the D-Mitri digital audio platform including the DVRAS processors that host the VRAS algorithms and generate early reflections and late reverberations in four discrete reverberation zones. By dividing the system into four zones, the performance stage can be placed along any wall, and multiple stages can be used simultaneously. The system is also comprised of 28 widely distributed microphones, and 85 small, self-powered loudspeakers discreetly wall-mounted and suspended from the 50-foot ceiling. Overhead are 24 UPM- 1XP loudspeakers with 18 UPJunior-XP VariO and 31 MM-4XP self-powered loudspeakers as upper and lower laterals, respectively. Twelve UMS-SMXP subwoofers extend the reverberation envelope through the lowest octaves. All loudspeakers employ Meyer Sound’s IntelligentDC technology.
QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY AT KINGSTON
Ontario, Canada
A Biamp Systems Tesira digital signal processor (DSP)-based media system is helping to drive a cutting-edge learning experience at the Queen’s University at Kingston in Ontario. Designed and installed by integrator PJS Systems, Queen’s University created two collaborative learning spaces shared by individual faculties that provide students with an interactive learning experience and enable faculty to engage using new and innovative teaching methods. A Tesira SERVER-IO frame was installed in each classroom. In addition, by incorporating an Extron fiber optic matrix switch and linking the two Tesira SERVER-IOs via AVB, the classrooms can collaborate with each other, allowing one instructor to lead a session in both rooms simultaneously.
CABANA BAY RESORT
Orlando, FL
Universal Orlando’s new Cabana Bay 1,800-room resort, comprised of 900 guest rooms and 900 family suites, was reportedly the largest hotel construction project of 2013-14 in the United States. The loudspeakers and amplifiers installed at the resort are almost exclusively Tannoy and Lab.gruppen, according to Jay Lock, VP and general manager of SmartWatch Security & Sound, based in Orlando, which provided integration of the sound, security, and fire alarm systems at Cabana Bay Resort. The equipment was specified by commercial technology consultants Network Technologies, Inc. (NTI) in Atlanta, GA. More than 300 Tannoy speakers are installed, including CMS and CVS model in-ceiling speakers, DVS surface-mount models, and OCV pendant speakers. “All the speakers on the property— except the in-ground speakers; they went with SoundTube for those—are Tannoy,” Lock reported.
JOHN AND MARGARET WILSON COMMUNICATION HALL—MUHLENBERG COLLEGE
Allentown, PA
The staff at the Muhlenberg College wanted to optimize every bit of space on their very traditional campus, transforming a little used alcove in the John and Margaret Wilson Communication Hall into a technologically advanced room furnished with the latest collaboration equipment and control system technology. The Muhlenberg team, which includes Sean Miller, Thomas Sciarrino, and Anthony Dalton, designed a flexible space from the ground up that is capable of adjusting as needs and groups differ. The team furnished the room with two FSR HuddleVU HV-1000 collaboration systems, an FSR 8x8 matrix switcher, an FSR FLEX Control System, and FSR Digital Ribbon Cables to ensure students and staff were equipped with the tools they need to succeed.
SDIS 13 EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTER
One of Canada’s largest independent production houses, Groupe Pixcom Inc., recently moved to a larger location, and in order to continue centralizing workstations and other equipment outside of its video editing studios, Pixcom vetted different KVM extenders, choosing the far-reaching, fiberoptic Matrox Avio F120, which enables real-time control up to 10 km (6.2 miles) away from the system. Pixcom needed a high-performance KVM extension solution capable of extending dual-display HP workstations running Avid Media Composer software, with keyboard, mouse, speakers, and graphics tablets and sound mixing consoles when required, and Matrox’s Avio was a fit.
OUR LADY OF VICTORY CHAPEL
Saint Paul, MN
The Our Lady of Victory Chapel at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, MN, is a Romanesque style building with gracious curves and vaulted barrel ceilings, yet such aesthetics seldom guarantee an acoustic friendly environment. Audio Logic Systems (ALS) installed Ti10P from d&b audiotechnik’s T-Series, a solution entirely within the scope of the visual requirements, which met all the intelligibility criteria. The loudspeakers arrived from the factory pretreated in a beige/grey, the base color of the chapel interior, and were then placed in the creative hands of Tamatha Miller. The room was modeled in d&b’s ArrayCalc.
SOUTH POINT HOTEL, CASINO, AND SPA
Las Vegas, NV
The South Point Hotel, Casino, and Spa, located south of McCarran Airport on the Las Vegas Strip, recently completed its new bowling facility specifically designed for professional bowling tournaments and competitions. South Point chose Q-Sys, QSC amplifiers, and loudspeakers for the new addition. The bowling center and arena expansion system includes a Q-Sys Core 500i with half-a-dozen Q-Sys I/O frames and over 20 QSC CXD-Q power amplifiers, which drive a variety of QSC AcousticPerformance and QSC AcousticDesign loudspeakers. The use of CXD-Q amplifiers, designed specifically for use with the Q-Sys platform and utilizing RJ45 interconnects, enabled a quick and trouble-free connection of CXD-Q on the venue’s Q-LAN network.
GROSS ANATOMY SIMULATION LAB—VANCOUVER GENERAL HOSPITAL
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
To keep up with training demand, the Gross Anatomy Simulation Lab, built on the five-city-block Vancouver General Hospital campus was incrementally expanded to include seven simulation labs and a variety of support rooms. McSquared System Design Group designed the AV system for each expansion of CESEI. Lab AV systems are designed around Extron’s FOX Matrix 3200. Each modular 32x32 matrix switcher is populated with the appropriate number of 8x8 multimode matrix boards for the space. Signals are extended using the FOX DA8 eight output distribution amplifier and a selection of Extron FOXBOX and PowerCage FOX Series fiber optic transmitters, receivers, and scaling receivers. Each lab is associated with a control room that features two-way communication for real-time exchanges during room preparation and lessons. System operators and medical personnel in the control room are able to closely observe lab activities from workstations with 20-inch monitors and on a 2x2 videowall. FOXBOX Rx HDMI receivers deliver signals routed from the lab’s main overhead camera and vital signs monitors to the various displays.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDENT CENTER
Columbia, MO
The University of Missouri recently hired AV integration firm TSI Global Companies, based in St. Charles, MO, to design and install a comprehensive music playback, paging, and sound masking system for the student center. The new system covers all three floors via 18 zones from a centralized location, but because TSI used Ashly Audio network—and CobraNet-ready multi-channel amplifiers—it required only minimal cabling. Three eight-channel Ashly ne8250.70c 250W network amplifiers are arranged with one for each floor. Inputs to the system include a CD player with an iPod dock, a DirecTV receiver, a computer-based media server, and a tie-in to the telephone system for pages. In addition to acting as the sound-masking engine, a Biamp Tesira Server-IO DSP selects and routes the signals appropriately. With its high ceilings and big game-day duties, the cafeteria uses larger Atlas FAP8CXT loudspeakers. The rest of the system uses smaller Atlas FAP62T loudspeakers.
SCIENCE MUSEUM OF VIRGINIA
Richmond, VA
Christie helped the Science Museum of Virginia create a state-of-the-art planetarium that is taking patrons across the planet and deep into the universe. Audiences are seeing it all in high resolution at 120 Hz thanks to Christie D4K2560 high-frame-rate projectors, which were installed by Evans & Sutherland (E&S), a pioneer in computer graphics and digital dome theater systems. The projectors power an 8K-resolution full dome system that displays images on the 76-foot dome screen, one of the largest digital dome theaters in the world. Audiences can view high-energy 2D and 3D movies, as well as innovative astronomy shows featuring E&S’s proprietary Digistar 5 system.
SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM
Washington, DC
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum maintains the world’s largest and most significant collection of aviation and space artifacts, encompassing all aspects of human flight, and is also home of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. In cooperation with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a Planar video wall system has been implemented at the museum to depict for visitors large, dramatic images of the sun’s outermost atmosphere. Images are on view on the Planar video wall, which is nearly 10 feet high and 15 feet wide. Systems integration firm Avitecture, was tapped for assistance in choosing the displays for the video wall, as well as for exhibit design, installation, and integration. The Avitecture team, led by Christopher Hey, recommended Planar’s Clarity Matrix LCD video wall system, specifying an array of the 55-inch video wall displays (MX55HDS) in a two-wide by three-high configuration (2x3). These displays were selected because of their high-bright (800-nit) capability, an essential feature given that the video wall was to be installed in a walkway area between the museum’s main entrance and the Spaceflight Hall.
PARK MEADOWS TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTER
Lone Tree, CO
The Park Meadows traffic management center (TMC) is the central monitoring and control facility serving as the communications hub for the greater Denver region. The RGB Spectrum Galileo display processor, powering a 15-display HD video wall, allows the Park Meadows TMC to view CCTV (analog and IP) feeds from the Colorado Department of Transportation, as well as from satellite TMCs in the region. Additional video signals arrive from various departments and locations as IP streams that are first fed to a Wowza streaming media server, which regenerates the streams so that a single stream can be viewed by multiple destinations.
WORLD OF SPEED MUSEUM
Wilsonville, OR
Dedicated to the celebration and preservation of American motorsports, the World of Speed Museum is an educational museum featuring 53,000 square feet of historic racecars, racing boats, and motorcycles that tell the story of America’s motorsports culture. Delta AV of Gresham, OR designed and installed World of Speed’s AV systems. Delta installed Hitachi projectors and Sharp displays for the video systems and chose Community D SERIES loudspeakers powered by Crown amplifiers for the museum’s audio needs. Community DS8 surface-mount loudspeakers serve the “Zero to 1000 MPH” video wall and DS8s also serve other exhibits throughout the museum. Community DP8 pendant loudspeakers are used for distributed sound in open-ceiling areas and D5 and D6 ceiling loudspeakers are used in dropped-ceiling areas, such as the classrooms and the boardroom.
LA POLICE DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
Los Angeles, CA
System integrators Burst Communications and Mocklin Audio Visual have been working together for years to design and install AV systems throughout multiple facilities within the city of Los Angeles. Sales engineer Greg Gorian and design engineer Brian Mocklin utilize multiple Contemporary Research ATSC+SDI 4 HDTV tuners to tune HD off-air channels from local television stations to feed into their MATV systems at the Los Angeles Police Department Administration building. They also rely on Contemporary Research 232-ATSC 4 tuners to feed modulated channels from Direct TV and Time Warner Cable into the large 7x4 video wall at the Los Angeles Police Department RACR Division facility.
APELLA EVENT SPACE AT ALEXANDRIA CENTER
New York, NY
The Apella Event Space at Alexandria Center, New York City’s innovative meeting and events facility with expansive East River views, recently upgraded its facility with three laser projectors from Digital Projection International. Apella worked with AV and technology firm Conference Technologies, Inc. to make key upgrades including three of DPI’s 11,000 lumen HIGHlite Laser projectors that project onto three 188-inch screens in the Apella 200 event space. A Crestron AV distribution and control system was installed during the initial build-out in 2010, and another key upgrade includes installation of the more powerful Crestron DigitialMedia 8G+ receiver and room control system.
