Visavvi delivers AV excellence at world-class sports centre

There was plenty riding on sportscotland’s ambitious plans to open its prestigious National Sports Training Centre Inverclyde. They wanted world-class indoor and outdoor facilities at the Largs site, as well as 60 on-site bedrooms. It was to be the first centre of its kind in the UK, demanding the very best in audio visual. Visavvi was called upon to make sure that this important element was more than fit for purpose.

“Customers have already been commenting on the very impressive video wall in the reception area, as well as the digital signage around the site. The Tripleplay system gives us great ease of control over our signage and IPTV systems in one centralised system and it’s great to work with.”

Challenge

Hot on the heels of the excitement of landing the contract came a detailed design brief from sportscotland. The entire centre, less than an hour’s drive from Glasgow, was to be equipped with state-of-the-art and fully integrated audio visual and collaborative facilities. During the consultation phase, we kept the needs of the athletes’ top of mind. The Visavvi approach is to release the users of technology from time-consuming complexity – allowing them to collaborate freely and get on with what they do best.

Our key ambition here was accessibility: making sure competitors at all levels had access to the information they needed, when they needed it. We wanted the athletes to be able to concentrate on enhancing their performance above all else. That meant linking the activity in the various sporting areas to every part of the building – including the bedrooms.

Solution

Our site-wide solution placed the potency of internet protocol television (IPTV) at its heart. We opted for the Tripleplay platform which, along with a network of NEC display monitors, gave us the flexibility we needed to provide feeds to all 60 bedrooms as well as digital signage to the fitness centre and communal areas. Even the gym machines can pick up the multicast stream. The system offers both future-proof scalability and the ability to display live streaming from the outdoor pitches.

For such an important initiative with national scale, we felt it important to make a positive statement from the word go. So visitors arriving at the reception area are greeted by a striking video wall display. Utilising four NEC 46” professional panels built for 24/7 operation, the wall delivers full HD resolution and can be programmed for timed operation. Prominent 55” NEC displays are also installed throughout the bar areas, the cardio suite, the gymnasium and the multipurpose area. All are connected to a Tripleplay Amino player via HDMI in a set-up that represents networked AV at its best.

We equipped the main meeting room with a comprehensive AV set up that features:

A ceiling-mounted 5400 lumens Panasonic HD projector plus a three metre tensioned electric screen with two 55” NEC HD repeater screen monitors
System operation via a Visavvi OneTouch control panel built into a Quadra Academy lectern
Lectern also accommodates a Biamp Nexia presentation mixer, Extron audio amplifier feeding twelve ceiling speakers plus an induction loop system

Meanwhile in the three smaller public meeting rooms we installed:

55” NEC HD monitor screen, Extron audio amplifier, OneTouch control panel and a Visavvi scaler/switcher to easily handle various AV sources
Functionality to maximise the advantages of technologies such as Barco ClickShare
Compatibility with personal portable devices via wireless screen sharing

Keeping our theme of accessibility to the fore, we implemented an advanced room booking system via the Tripleplay network to ensure that the rooms could be managed easily and efficiently. Connection is the key... the connections between rooms, devices, content and participants ensure that everyone benefits from the full potential of the Internet of Things and networked AV.

Outcome

The collaborative benefits of the Visavvi solution, as well as the detailed and expert technical elements, were well received by everyone involved. Member of the Scottish Parliament Aileen Campbell, put the importance of the project into perspective. Speaking when she was Scottish sports minister she commented: "The sportscotland National Sports Training Centre Inverclyde is an exceptional facility for sports people from all across the country, as well as having strong community links in Largs. Scottish Government is very pleased and proud to have invested in Inverclyde, which is another example of the wide range of facilities we now have the length and breadth of the country.”

sportscotland’s Head of Office Support Services, Craig Worsley, praised the installation delivered by the Visavvi systems engineering and programming team. He said: “I found Visavvi great to work with from the very start. The quality of their initial tender submission was excellent and when they started on site, our project manager, Andrew, ensured the install was carried out to a very high standard and reflected the initial design."