The University of Newcastle renews its audiovisual system with Universal AV

Promoting collaboration and teaching spaces has been the main objective of the remodeling of the Newcastle University. Among the installations carried out, the one carried out in the conference room stands out with an infrastructure made up of eight Sharp/NEC PA1004UL projectors suspended by ceiling lifts of Screen.

The commitment of the Newcastle University by investing in state-of-the-art facilities has been evident throughout its history. The recent remodeling of Stephenson Building underlines this dedication to providing state-of-the-art infrastructure for students, researchers and staff.

Stephenson is home to the people who make things work. A facility that houses future engineers, researchers, designers and visionaries to collaborate and address global challenges.

The redevelopment of the Stephenson Building at Newcastle University has not only aimed to modernize the infrastructure, but also prioritizes sustainability and the preservation of its heritage of 60 years. This approach ensures that the building continues to serve as a symbol of downtown history and a beacon for the future.. This is a project that has been carried out by Universal AV.

The center has become a place to engage, support and challenge students to develop their potential; promote transformative research in multiple disciplines, and the economy, the social well-being and cultural wealth of Newcastle.

The remodeling and construction works have been carried out in two phases. The phase 1 It was inaugurated in September 2023 and during this month the renovation of the teaching spaces and offices of the original building is being completed.

The engineering school is divided into several buildings on campus and the Stephenson remodel is designed to bring all of these branches together in one central location. This has been part of the reason for the expansion, and another key factor has been that the faculty needed more small group collaborative learning facilities, that they were inside the building.

Collaboration has been one of the main driving factors and that is why the conference rooms have been designed with table groups of no more than 6 u 8 people and teaching in IT rooms and in circle.

To support flexible infrastructure, collaborative and digital project planned for Stephenson Building research and education facilities, a variety of audiovisual solutions have been required.

The building's research facilities have included flexible research space, as well as different laboratories.

The educational facilities were intended to enhance the student experience and support blended learning and include a Maker Space, a new student-centered zone for interdisciplinary collaboration and creativity; multipurpose teaching laboratories, digital learning zones with large flat areas for flexible and social working; quiet study areas; for conferences and exhibitions for more than 500 delegates; and specialized laboratories and engineering facilities.

New AV equipment

The University of Newcastle has a strong track record with Sharp/NEC y, although during the evaluation phases several alternatives were analyzed, leaving aside a set of products that was used throughout the campus was not contemplated, since teachers and academics were familiar with the solutions.

The standard teaching classroom was planned to have the latest NEC solutions installed, but advice was sought from audiovisual integrators on the best way to manage collaborative teaching spaces in the classroom. The University knew what it wanted to achieve, but I had never done anything like this before, so I was open to suggestions on the best way to achieve the desired result.

I wanted to create a more engaging and interactive learning environment than the conventional conference room.. They chose a design called 'in the classroom', where the instructor delivers the content from the center of the room, surrounded by collaborative modules with screens in all directions. This way, Students can actively participate in the lesson and see the presentation clearly.

Setting up the conference room required a lot of planning and coordination. Account manager Duncan Cave and project manager Jonny Johnston worked closely with the architects, the construction contractor and the Newcastle University AV team to find a solution that met everyone's expectations.

In this way, the room has been created by placing eight projectors Sharp/NEC PA1004UL on a platform called 'donut'. The projectors have been suspended using Screen International ceiling lifts. These can drop every projector ,using a scissor lift action, three meters, allowing units to be lowered individually should access be required. This reduces downtime and the cost of accessing projectors through conventional methods.

The eight four-meter wraparound screens used for projection are also made of Screen International.

He control and switching inside the room they are in charge of Q-SYS and two music stands were needed Dalen Top-Tec, a larger unit in the center of the room and a smaller one next to the door. This allows teaching from two different positions.

Las extender units BlueStream HDBT provide signal transmission to projectors. These have been placed in a rack located in a room to the side of the conference room and have been duplicated to provide redundancy in another effort to keep it in use. If a drive fails, the projector can be switched to the second input.

The audio for this space has been the responsibility of JBL. Eight units have been installed CBT-70J on the exterior walls, controlled with amplifiers Powersoft Quattrocanali. Microphones are available for voice reinforcement. Sennheiser Speechline.

conference room

The conference room has been designed in a more traditional way, with three Sharp/NEC projectors PA1004UL mounted on supports Unicol, that display images on fixed screens four meters wide Sapphire. Control is carried out with Q-SYS with signal distribution with BlueStream.

The audio inside the room is based on four altavoces JBL CBT 50LA, powered by a Powersoft Quattrocanali amplifier with Sennheiser Speechline units providing voice reinforcement.

A Dalen Top-Tec Contor Duet music stand has been placed at the front of the room, which also houses all the equipment along with a display Wolfvison and wireless transmission by units Mersive Solstice.

The size of the faculty requires teaching the same subject several times due to the large number of students. To solve this, IT clusters have been implemented to enable seamless delivery of lectures and content throughout classrooms.

All three groups can accommodate 120 students each, so to complement the teaching in the three spaces, glass walls are available to keep rooms separate and combined teaching.

Two of the rooms have Sharp/NEC projectors P605UL and one two Sharp/NEC devices PV710UL. This is due to projection distance requirements., where an interchangeable lens is required.

Control in these rooms is the responsibility of Extron MLC 200 Plus, with units IN1808 from the same manufacturer for switching, teams JBL CBT 50LA y Q-SYS DSP for audio, and Sennheiser for voice reinforcement. All equipment is housed in a lectern Dalen Top-Tec Contour Nano with a top-mounted Wolfvision display and Mersive Solstice for wireless presentations.

meeting rooms

Meeting rooms vary in capacity, from 6 until 30 personas. The smallest ones are equipped with large format NEC screens, Extron control units, BluStream signal transmission, Mersive Solstice wireless sharing and studio video sound bars Poly.

The large conference room has NEC projection, Q-SYS configurable video endpoints, cameras LLC, amplifiers Audac AMP22, JBL Control speakers 1 and ceiling-mounted microphones Sennheiser TeamConnect.

With this remodeling and renovation, the teaching staff has been consolidated, which eliminates the inconvenience of being dispersed throughout the campus, a fundamental improvement.

Besides, This marks the university's inaugural addition of two collaborative lecture halls within a single building, a significant change from previous practices. This innovative setup has proven to be very beneficial for both engineering students and academics., encouraging seamless collaboration and enhancing the learning experience.

Students have a nice and cozy building to study, with facilities including plenty of computer space and hands-on space for both elements of the course.