Tom Lee Engineering polishes the Panda Hotel’s Crystal
Published: ASIA
HONG KONG: Located in the New Territories, the Panda Hotel is a four-star hotel with over 1,000 rooms in close proximity to Tsuen Wan and Tai Wo Hau MTR stations. Owned and managed by Hopewell Holdings, it is the closest city hotel to the Hong Kong International Airport, attracting local and overseas business people wishing to host conferences, seminars and events. As such, the hotel’s facilities boast a fifth level 1,250 capacity Grand Ballroom, in addition to a number of smaller Crystal rooms on the third and 30th floors. The elegant Crystal was earmarked for a makeover recently and so Hopewell Holdings contracted Tom Lee Engineering (TLE) to once again to upgrade the audio, control, lighting and video aspects.
The 300-capacity space can be divided by a partition into two smaller rooms. Flexibility and aesthetics were the key design factors in influencing TLE’s design, for which the technology had to be discretely integrated into the ornate décor. Meeting the three-week deadline to perform the project required meticulous planning and decisive management on site during the 21 days in October when the works were conducted.
Driven by LAX MPA600 power amplifiers, the BGM benefits from a 32-zoned Yamaha VXC8W 8-inch ceiling speaker solution, although the SPLs can be enhanced with the addition of portable Peecker Sound Upturned T-series speaker systems. The PSUT8TE columns can be simply mounted onto PSUT Base units and patched into Extron DTPT UWP 232D wall panels and DTPT FB232 floor boxes that have been added around the 20m x 30m space. Boosted by UA864 wideband antennas, four channels of Shure QLXD4 wireless have been added to cater for the various events. A Yamaha MGP16X 16-channel analogue mixing console has been installed into the equipment room rack, whilst the various audio inputs and sources are patched through a Neutrik NYS-SPP-L1 patch-bay to the different facility panels and speaker zones.
The restricted 4m ceiling height posed a challenge to project manager Kevin Kwok and his team as four DTS moving head lights and three Sony HD 5200 lumens projectors had to be fixed into position without being visible when not in use. Crucially, there was sufficient space above to allow motorised lifts to be accommodated, which are lowered into position when required via AMX NI-3100 control and Cat-6e cabling. The facility manager can simply control the audio, lighting and video projection systems including the motorised Da-Lite Cosmopolitan screens via the AMX TCP-iPad. The lighting alone can also be controlled via a Lite Puter ECP-T04 touch screen panel.
An Extron Crosspoint MTX84 matrix switcher lies at the heart of the video system, for which the various inputs such as Sony video cameras and Blu-ray players are fed. A variety of Extron scalers, extenders and distribution amplifiers ensure HD picture quality to the projection screens. Completed in the time frame allowed, the Crystal glistens with its sparkling crystal wall filled with natural sunlight during the day and iconic LED lighting effect in the evening. TLE’s experience and workmanship also shone through.