SCN 2019 Installs of the Year

Now more than ever, pro AV is focusing on the end user experience—be it a consumer in a brick and mortar space or a co-worker in a conference room. SCN is once again celebrating the integration firms that have gone above and beyond to create the ultimate user experience.

Legacy Union Lobby

Charlotte, NC

“Unify” is a generative artwork commissioned to mark the opening of Legacy Union. This atmospheric celebration of community plays out on a massive-scale NanoLumens video wall, integrated by Cenero, in the lobby of the property’s inaugural building. Its ever-changing swirl of colors reflects the vibrancy of a city where all the right elements are coalescing to form something new and beautiful. Driven by a complex algorithm, the behavior of each pixel influences the others around it—color, movement, and sound recombine in a complex and interconnected dance. The algorithm is a metaphor for community: Where we are is part of who we are—we affect, and are affected by, the actions of everyone around us. The content was created by experiential design studio Second Story.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ERDC

Vicksburg, MS

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) building is a cutting-edge facility recently completed in Vicksburg, MS. Upon entering, visitors are greeted by two 32-foot-high mosaic video walls composed of 30 LG VMC5 displays: 19 of the line’s 55-inch models and 11 of the 46-inch models. The atrium also boasts an immersive pavilion structure wrapped in 14 of LG’s 65-inch OLED displays. All signal routing and control in the space is handled by Crestron; video processing takes place in an RGB Spectrum Galileo display processor. Additional rooms in the facility include an auditorium featuring Barco projectors and a NewTek TriCaster system for live productions, multiple videoconferencing suites relying on Cisco SX80, and a bevy of other conference and classroom spaces that enable the USACE to communicate its messages effectively, every time.

Statue of Liberty Museum on Liberty Island

New York, NY

At the Statue of Liberty Museum, ESI Design used interactive media in new, unexpected ways to tell the important cultural story of liberty and bring the statue’s history to life. A sweeping 8K-resolution film is experienced on three Novawall projection screens ranging from 13 to 16 feet tall, taking visitors on a stunning fly-through inside the statue. Interactive exhibits explain the statue’s construction, history, and global impact using artifacts, theatrical soundscapes, projection mapping over large-scale graphics, and interactive media. Visitors contribute their ideas of “liberty” on one of 20 touchscreen kiosks, which join an ever-growing digital mural on a custom 40-foot-long Unilumin LED wall. The museum has best-in-class ADA accessibility, with Storm Interface Nav-Pads allowing visitors of all abilities to use the interactives.

Dickies Arena

Fort Worth, TX

The city of Fort Worth has set a goal to be the most music-friendly city in Texas. One of the ways they are making that happen is with the 14,000-seat Dickies Arena, which is being built by Beck Construction with public and private funding.

Not only will this be the new home of the Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo, a goal of the project is to ensure that the arena is able to provide the most premium concert experience in Texas. Electro Acoustics was selected to install the 544,000-watt, 7.5-ton L-Acoustics speaker system in the main seating bowl. According to Dan Palmer, business development manager, sports facilities, at L-Acoustics, “The sound system integration at the new Dickies Arena sets a benchmark for multi-use sports and entertainment arena applications. We would rank it as one of the top sports venue installations worldwide”

Indeed

Austin, TX

Indeed, headquartered in Austin, TX, is one of the world’s top job search sites. With offices located all over the world, technology is at the center of each facility—so much so that when a new construction project begins, the planning team consists of the architect, owner, and Ford AV. Ford recently completed Indeed’s Domain office building, where technology investments include Planar and Barco video walls, combinable training rooms and phone booths, meeting rooms to accommodate groups of two to 16, studio rooms, a fitness area, game room, and digital signage, all running on a Crestron platform. The training auditorium is equipped like a performing arts center, with extensive production technology like Meyer Sound speakers and theater lighting.

Edition Times Square Hotel

Clair Solutions Gives a Glimpse Into the Tech Future with EDITION Hotel Installation — (Image credit: Photos Courtesy of the EDITION Hotel Times Square © 2019 Nikolas Koenig)

New York, NY

Situated at the heart of Times Square, the newly-constructed Edition Hotel uses audio, video, lighting, system control, and broadcast infrastructure at the edge of what’s technologically possible, along with thoughtful, future-proof ways to keep the hotel current as technology advances. AVL design and integration firm Clair Solutions leveraged its deep history in the live performance industry, its successful designs/installations at other Schrager and Edition properties, and its staff of professionals to make the Times Square Edition a truly one-of-a-kind experience. The various spaces throughout the property use a combination of CAT215 line array elements, USLP218 subwoofers, and 1AM stage monitors from Clair Brothers; Tannoy and Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and subwoofers; QSC amplification products; and Q-SYS Ecosystem for overall system-level audio processing, distribution, and control.

Wells Fargo Center

Wells Fargo scoredboard installed by ANC — (Image credit: ANC)

Philadelphia, PA

Comcast Spectacor, ANC, and TAIT recently partnered to bring the first-ever Kinetic 4K center-hung entertainment system to the Wells Fargo Center. The Kinetic 4K system features the ability to transform and be configured in a variety of formats to best highlight the action below. ANC says arena scoreboards have never before been able to extend and compress 4mm LED technology in such an adaptive manner. The comprehensive center-hung system features a grand total of more than 6,600 square feet of 4mm LED video technology.

Water Replenishment District—Albert Robles Center (ARC)

Pico Rivera, CA

The new Albert Robles Center (ARC) uses sophisticated graphics and interactives to show the role of the Water Replenishment District (WRD), which is responsible for maintaining groundwater levels in the aquifers below Los Angeles with drinking-quality water. The ARC takes visitors through the story of the WRD, on a virtual journey through the aquifers under L.A., and even allows them to participate in taking samples from a monitoring well before allowing them to taste the plant’s recycled water through a unique sculpture in the “tasting room.” The visitor center features no fixed graphics, and all of the content can be changed as preferred between English and Spanish.

Center for Health & Wellbeing

Winter Park, FL

The Center for Health & Wellbeing is a 79,000-square-foot facility that dedicates itself to providing a wide variety of quality care options—enriching the mind, body, and spirit of its patrons. Baker Audio Visual integrated 20 carefully-considered areas including community conference centers, café and nutrition, clinical services, the beloved Crosby Wellness Center, and walking paths. Crestron is used to control the functionality of each space throughout the facility. LG displays and SpinetiX blend to create a seamless signage offering used for messaging, presentations, and rotating menu boards. Biamp provides the brains to the brawn of the JBL speakers and Crown amps, allowing the center to uniquely engage with their guests. All of this comes together to create a center people don’t just visit, they experience.

USC’s Marshall School of Business Fertitta Hall

Los Angeles, CA

The University of Southern California (USC) and Spinitar have successfully worked together on numerous projects over the past 15 years. In their most recent collaboration, USC called on Spinitar and McKay Conant Hoover to design advanced audiovisual solutions for 80 rooms and spaces in Fertitta Hall. The project included 20 classrooms, an experiential learning center, 51 breakout rooms, conference rooms with AMX touchpanel controls, video walls with Samsung displays, and more. Per Spinitar’s gold-level support agreement, a member of the Spinitar team remained on site at Fertitta Hall for the first three months after the building opened to ensure maximum uptime, troubleshooting and fixing any issues that arose.

The LINQ Hotel + Experience

Las Vegas, NV

The teams at Caesars and McCann Systems worked closely together to craft a vision for the AV systems of the LINQ Hotel + Experience. The project, which took about 16 months from design to ribbon-cutting, features a synthetic reality experience designed by famed media artist Refik Anadol, who used artificial intelligence to create live data sculptures on Unilumin LED screens. The install also featured more than 160 Samsung displays showcasing a range of content using Christie video processing; a killer sound system featuring JBL speakers, Crown amplifiers, Biamp DSPs, and a Williams AV audio server; and a state-of-the-art control system designed by Creston and McCann that allows casino management to adjust the AV experience in seconds via a touchscreen interface.

Western Union Headquarters

AVI-SPL's install at Western Union — (Image credit: Avocor)

Denver, CO

Operating in more than 200 countries, Western Union is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement. As it continues to develop new ways to stay on top of technological innovation, AVI-SPL installed more than 300 Avocor displays in Western Union’s Denver headquarters to collaborate with Zoom Rooms. Avocor’s information displays are now playing a key role in enabling Western Union employees all over the world to communicate and collaborate in the most effective and efficient way.

Want to see more pro AV installations? Visit avnetwork.com/installations.

Megan A. Dutta is a pro AV industry journalist, and the former content director for Systems Contractor News (SCN) and Digital Signage Magazine, both Future U.S. publications. Dutta previously served as the marketing communications manager at Peerless-AV, where she led the company’s marketing and communications department. Dutta is the recipient of AVIXA's 2017 Young AV Professional Award and Women in Consumer Technology's 2018 Woman to Watch Award. Dutta is co-founder of Women of Digital Signage, an organization designed to provide a pathway to promote networking, mentoring, and personal growth.