It goes without saying that space is at a premium in Manhattan. Greatly expanding an existing commercial facility to enhance its utility, improve its efficiency and elevate its profile in a competitive market is no mean feat. But the 1.2 million-square-foot addition to New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center has achieved just that.
The new space added another 200,000 square feet of meeting rooms and pre-function areas, including a 54,000-square-foot special event space, and a truck marshaling facility designed to make event operations more efficient. The Javits Center is run by the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation, and its expansion is part of New York City’s long-term Midtown West redevelopment plan.
Metinteractive, which provides strategic solutions for architecture, communication, and technology, partnered with Lendlease Turner JV as a member of the design build construction team and as AV integrator for the Javits Center expansion. “The Javits Center now has a vastly more versatile and complex AV system, rigging system, lighting system, IPTV system, and motorized room partitions—all the components seen as the gold standard for today’s convention centers,” said Jeff Mele, Metinteractive CEO.
“The sheer size of the project was monumental,” added Sal Russo, vice president/project management and construction for Lendlease Turner JV. “The design team at consultants JB&B and Metinteractive played a critical role in developing an appropriate infrastructure for the expanded Javits Center, so it’s fortunate that Metinteractive is accustomed to working on large projects.”
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Decision-making for the project took place over an 18-month period, during which Metinteractive often upgraded the equipment roster with more robust gear that made the best use of space and demonstrated the most flexibility and functionality.
David Bullard, Metinteractive project manager, said a facility the size and scope of the Javits Center required Metinteractive to consider systems that would “work over large distances and repeat across rooms while maintaining an even quality of performance everywhere.” He called the new special event space “a next-generation meeting infrastructure equipped to meet clients’ demands. It not only expands meeting room facilities, but also provides clients with a dimension of functionality they never had before.”
The Javits Center’s special event space on Level 5 is a mammoth, sub-dividable area that can be configured as four giant meeting rooms, while meeting space on Level 4 includes a number of smaller rooms. The flexible architecture accommodates any AV equipment brought in by the client.
A QSC Q-Sys Core 110f control system with custom interfaces enables any audio feed in the building to be directed to any room. A QSC AD-C1200 ceiling speaker package ensures even speaker coverage, while an IPTV system from VITEC allows up to 60 cable channels to be distributed over the Internet anywhere it’s needed.
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New pre-function areas, consisting of hallways and room entries, also have extensive audio coverage and video signage. The front atrium entry boasts a 35-foot-wide Mitsubishi 4mm pixel pitch Diamond Vision LED videowall driven by Metinteractive’s ElationLogic Storyteller Transmedia-native software. The videowall can display event-specific informational signage as well as advertising for the Javits Center or its clients. Each meeting room doorway has a Planar 50 or 86-inch display fed by VITEC players and operated by a quick, intuitive interface.
The expansion extends to rooftop spaces as well. An outdoor terrace, planted with small garden beds and offering views of the Hudson River, is equipped with a Sonance outdoor-rated speaker and QSC amp for pre-function events. A glass-enclosed pavilion offers the same extensive AV capabilities as the large indoor meeting spaces.
A new capability now available to clients is Sennheiser’s MobileConnect, an assistive and personal listening solution that utilizes Javits Center Wi-Fi to stream live audio content to any iOS or Android phone. “It was particularly exciting to see the potential of this technology, which can be used throughout the facility,” said Bullard.
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For easy communication among 12 AV equipment rooms, Metinteractive installed a Clear-Com Eclipse matrix intercom system with V32LD user stations. Metinteractive was also responsible for an almost behind-the-scenes area that’s vital to the smooth and efficient rotation of events at the Javits Center.
“The expansion included the addition of a four-level truck marshaling facility with AV coverage,” Mele said. “With 27 additional loading docks inside, the facility can house 200 trucks at any one time, meaning trucks will no longer be lining up on the West Side Highway and tying up traffic. The Javits Center can turn over shows at a much faster pace now.”
