• AV control room with twin technician operator console, multi screen monitoring and a pair of roaming wireless touch panels for setup and operation of events. Both technicians can work independently to monitor and control events in all venues throughout the building
• Two large divisible function spaces provided with extensive AV facilities, signal distribution, sound reinforcement and connectivity for incoming event companies. All systems controlled and configured using custom programmed touch panel interfaces
• Six guest meeting rooms with large format displays, sound reinforcement and AV connectivity. All systems controlled and configured using custom programmed touch panel interfaces
• Two guest boardrooms with large format displays, sound reinforcement, video conferencing and AV connectivity. All systems controlled and configured using custom programmed touch panel interfaces.
• Two staff meeting rooms with large format displays, sound reinforcement and AV connectivity
• Two fitness centres with large format displays, video matrix, sound reinforcement and ‘Bring Your Own Device’ BYOD enabled wireless “screen channel” audio system. Fitness centre AV systems are controlled from the reception counters using custom programmed button panels.
• Kids’ club with various large format displays, 5.1 audio system, games consoles and custom programmed wireless touch panel interface incorporating lighting and BGM control
• High quality background music system with, 50 local control panels / local audio inputs, 120 channels of networked amplification and over 1,000 loudspeakers.
• 242 Guestrooms with large format displays, soundbars, BYOD connectivity
• Eight State suites with large format displays, 5.1 audio system to lounge, audio system to all rooms with BYOD connectivity and custom programmed wireless touch panel interface incorporating lighting and motorised drapes
• Presidential and Royal suites with large format displays, 5.1 audio system to lounge, audio system to all rooms with BYOD connectivity and custom programmed wireless touch panel interface incorporating lighting and motorised drapes

The highly specified integrated AV system for the hotel provided some of the best AV facilities in any hotel in the Middle East.

The AV control room is the hub of the system and from here, technicians can monitor and control events underway across the building. AV signals from all function spaces/venues in the building converge in a fibre based video/audio matrix providing the flexibility to accommodate events spread across multiple venues simultaneously.

Audio processing is handled via distributed DSP units. Each venue has local DSP with building-wide audio transport being conducted entirely over the hotel’s converged LAN infrastructure. The local DSP units are Dante enabled, allowing signals placed on the network to be monitored in the AV control room. Local amplifiers in the function spaces are also Dante enabled; this allows both efficient audio transport from the DSP to amplifier and also remote diagnostics from the AV control room on the same network interface.

The AV control room is also the hub for the building-wide background music (BGM) system. Twenty four custom programmed channels of audio are provided via redundant BGM servers. These are brought into the DSP system in the AV control room, processed and distributed around the building to local amplifier racks on the converged LAN – again using Dante. Local amplifiers are Dante-enabled and offer the same advantages as those in the function spaces. Local controls are provided in many zones; these are connected over the converged LAN. Local audio inputs are provided alongside the control panels; these are Dante devices and pass the locally injected audio signal back to the AV control room over the converged LAN, where they are processed and distributed back to the amplifiers as required.

The function spaces are configured and controlled from the custom programmed wireless touch panels. A “setup wizard” guides the technician through the setup of the venue, selection of active audio/AV inputs, network video sources, video conferencing, projectors in use, lighting presets, shade control, etc. The control system then dynamically presents the selected configuration on a user interface that has been designed to be simple enough for a guest to “self operate” a typical event. For more complex events a password protected “advanced user mode” has been provided on the user interface, to allow technicians more control over individual routing, levels, etc.

Smaller venues, such as meeting/board rooms, have been equipped with similar AV functionality and the same control interface as the function spaces, though their smaller size and more manageable I/O count means that they do not require a “setup wizard” to guide the technician in their configuration. All venues have the ability to send or receive AV content to/from the AV control room.

Guest room AV facilities in standard rooms and smaller suites offers large format display and wireless BYOD connectivity. Guest room AV facilities in the larger suites was extended to include a “home cinema” experience in the living room, with zoned audio systems, BYOD connectivity and a custom programmed touch panel interface with which to control the suite.

Consultant: Shen Milsom + Wilke

Contractor: Six Construct