AVI-SPL puts the A/V into Qasr Al Muwaiji
Published: MEA
UAE: Qasr Al Muwaiji, the birthplace of the president of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, opened to the public late last year as a museum. HQ Creative was contracted to design the A/V elements of the areas that were to be opened to the public and approached AVI-SPL to assist with the installation, which covered the building’s main exhibition area and the North West tower.
The project specifications called for the main exhibition space to be permanently installed with interactive elements featuring specific directional audio. Aside from the interactive touchscreens, all equipment was to be hidden from view of the visitors and not obstruct the light or effect the aesthetics of the room.
Meanwhile, in the North West tower, another challenge presented itself ahead of the installation. ‘Due to the construction of the tower, which is a protected building, no permanent fixings were possible and everything had to be easily removable so that the building could be restored to its regular appearance,’ recalled Adam Loosley, project manager at AVI-SPL. ‘No new conduits could be run and all cable had to be hidden, which made cable runs difficult. We overcame this by running the cable between a mud construction and the Barasti ceiling.’
Included in the installation were Extron DTP transmitter and receiver units for transporting the audio and video feeds and playback is handled by DVS Razor LoPro and BrightSign players. Audio is fed to Extron SM 3 surface mount speakers that are powered by an MPA 152 integrated mini power amplifier, while a combination of projectiondesign F21 and Christie LW401 projectors receive the video input.
‘The installation was split across two years,’ Mr Loosley summarised. ‘It would have taken two months but there was also a second phase where some additional spaces were added. Overall, the project went well; the end product offers a great user experience and the equipment blends in well with the building.’