We were approached by an electrical contractor who had secured the Audio Visual works at the new sports centre at Cheltenham Ladies College. We were issued with a specification and asked to design a system to provide HD and Audio services to 12 ‘Zones’ around the building all integrated with an intelligent control system. The specification asked for a Crestron control system with touch screens to allow Audio and HD sources to be selected locally and centrally but due to cost implications we were asked to provide an alternative system. After several meetings and numerous design changes we proposed a Control 4 solution which provided the same functionality as the Crestron but was more cost effective and was all centrally located to alleviate clutter within the rooms and also stop tampering with from outside parties.
From a central location we distributed Sky HD along with Freeview signals to a total of 11 TV’s and 1 projector along with audio return from the TV’s, Local PA system, SONOS and radio streamers. Local HDMI patch panels were also installed to allow connection to the local Display, Within certain rooms we fitted Control 4 touch screens enabling easy selection and control of all sources and the selection of TV channels, in other rooms just simple wall keypads or remote controls were supplied. We fitted Recessed Ceiling, wall mounted and pendant speakers depending on the room type, volume, coverage required and acoustic considerations. We installed Cat 6, control, audio and coax cabling from a central cabinet in the main comms room to locations throughout the building.
The system is also integrated to the fire alarm system to mute all audio in the case of an emergency.
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Find out moreThis room has a 7000 lumen HD projector which displays on an electric retractable screen, the room also has 10 ceiling speakers to provide audio from the projector along with its own line input and HDMI input which allows the room to be used as a fully functioning conference room, this meets the demands of companies who just want to bring along a laptop and be able to broadcast to the audience with minimum hassle.
This allows the whole complex to be controlled from a secure location in the event of a major emergency. The touch screens can act as an intercom system to call other touch screens around the building.
The audio requirements differed from one zone to another, the Gym and dance studio required good quality audio with high volume and other areas were only for background music and paging. We provided a 32 input audio matrix to feed the 12 independent zones with the variety of inputs on the system.
We installed a HD Modulator to enable the distribution of the Sky box to all screens from the central cabinet. The main conference room projector was fed with HD signals via a set of HD baluns.
The customer was very specific about their requirements and expectations for the control system and were initially very insistent that they wanted Creston installing but after our proposal was presented within our own fully functioning demo room they agreed to the installation of the Control 4 solution.
We installed the main control4 processor, audio amplification and network equipment in the central rack with touch screens, remote controls and engraved programmable keypads in the remote locations. We used the variety of user interfaces as some rooms were at a risk of damage from the leisure equipment for those specific areas.
The system was completed and commissioned on time in a very tight building program (approx. 3 months from start to finish to include all cabling and commission) this also includes delays encountered due to the design and getting client approval on the changes. We have now been approached directly by the client and are in discussions to install Control 4 into the existing building to control the lighting and existing audio/video systems.
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