A team of specialists, including the Imperial War Museum (of which CWR is a part), architects HOK and managing contractors Bovis Lend Lease, recently opened up additional areas that have been hidden since the war - a move which also paved the way for an extension of the education facilities and the creation of a new conference and meeting area.
Electrosonic worked with the team to provide AV facilities for the new spaces. The principal space is a flexible room that can seat up to 140 people in auditorium-style. When used as an auditorium the room is set out 'sideways' which brings the presenter nearer the audience and enables them to appreciate the original features of the room better. However, it does require the use of two projection screens to ensure legibility of projected images. The two screens are, in fact, interactive whiteboards, sited either side of a lectern position. This latter can be moved for alternative room layouts. A small control room, with a viewing window into the main space, houses a rack fitted with the AV source and control equipment.
Room control is provided by an AMX unit (run either from the rack or from a wireless touch panel), which can be placed anywhere in the room, but usually resides on the lectern. The microphones installed are mainly wireless, however a number of wired microphones fitted to the lectern are available as back-up. Audio mixing, equalization and routing are automatic using DSP, whilst image-wise, a wide range of sources can be accommodated.
The lighting control system, which works both independently and from the room controller, is based on Helvar DIGIDIM equipment. This interfaces with the ten circuits of electronically ballasted fluorescent lamps. A noteworthy feature of the system is that it uses the new DALI digital lighting protocol. This results in a compact system with 'distributed intelligence' and no central controller, increasing both the reliability and flexibility of the system. A smaller AV system has also been installed by Electrosonic in the education room. This room includes a video conferencing facility which allows the CWR to have joint meetings with other Imperial War Museum sites.
At the same time as the new conference and meeting facility was completed, the opportunity was taken to upgrade the audio system that replays continuous sound effects in the exhibition rooms. The new system is based on Electrosonic ESTA digital sound stores controlled by a simple scheduling system that switches the system on in the morning, and plays 'close of exhibition' announcements at the end of the day.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
