Great news: your school or organisation has a NEW building project approved! You’re excited about the possibilities and benefits this new facility will provide for your organisation. In this article, we will offer some tips and insights that might help ease the process of determining and planning the AV equipment for your new building.
As with any AV installations, the first step is to determine what is needed in each space. While this is no different with new buildings, the fact that the space does not exist yet adds a degree of difficulty to the proceedings. Clients may be tempted to try and install a wide variety of AV equipment in the space to cater for all possible scenarios, but more often than not too much money will be spent on an equipment that will mostly be left unused.
This is why the success of any AV system in a new building project is dependent on the involvement of an AV integrator in the early planning phase of the project. An AV consultant can help the client determine what they actually want in the space by guiding a discussion to ascertain:
- what the client will be doing in that space;
- how they are going to use the space and;
- what sort of information they’re trying to present and to what groups of people etc.
The consultant will then work from the client’s needs to try and form a solution that answers them through the appropriate technology.
After this initial step, the next thing to do is to interface with their design team and architects to make sure that the building works with the client’s AV requirements. Whilst many architects do an excellent job of designing beautiful and impressive modern buildings, these designs do not always lend themselves to creating workable, functional spaces for the installation of AV requirements. Thus, AV consultants might suggest minor changes to the building’s design to ensure that the clients get the desired AV outcome they are looking for.
Another reason for having an AV consultant involved early in the planning phase is to finalise the plans for the AV system and get the wiring installed before walls are plastered or permanent ceilings are completed. This not only avoids any frustration for wiring later, but enables the AV design to be practical. This practicality ranges from the functionality of the AV system through to the “serviceability” of the system. Without a consultation with an AV integrator, many of these important factors can get overlooked during the design phase, which may lead to more problems down the road.
DIB Solutions Consultants have extensive experience in providing AV solutions with new building projects, particularly in planning and working effectively with all parties involved. Their comprehensive knowledge from having worked with a variety of different clients and spaces can help guide you through the hard parts of designing a new building’s AV system.
Contact us to help you plan an AV system for your new building
For assistance with your custom audio visual requirements, contact a DIB Audio Visual Solutions Consultant today. Phone (03) 9457-4800 or email us at info@dibaustralia.com.au