Walker Morris

Brief

In one of the largest professional services moves, the company were relocating into 76,000 sq. ft. of fully renovated, Grade A office space at the heart of the Leeds business district. The building was undergoing a comprehensive £10 million refurbishment to provide a premium working environment, with significantly improved sustainability credentials.

Following a competitive tender process Walker Morris appointed Overbury and Fox Lloyd Jones to undertake the fit out contract of the internal floors to form reception, client meeting facilities, working floors, staff amenity and ancillary areas, including bespoke joinery, custom made lighting and feature artwork, together with complex services, acoustic and audio visual and communication requirements.

Having attended an event at Cloth Hall Court in Leeds, Walker Morris experienced the quality of installation provided by Universal AV and were interested in engaging with Universal for audio visual solutions for their offices. Fox Lloyd Jones (Project Manager for the project for Walker Morris) contacted Universal to initiate the first meetings where we worked with all parties to ascertain the needs of the client and devise the best possible solutions for mixed use spaces befitting their newly designed building and helping to provide an outstanding business environment.

Universal AV were awarded the contract and began the work in summer 2019.

The Solution

In the initial meetings we discussed the manner in which Walker Morris wanted to work, what was required from the rooms and the types of functionality possible. We wanted to ensure the solutions presented worked for Walker Morris and provided them with a common approach across all spaces.

Walker Morris were interested in assessing interactive solutions. They had already seen the Clevertouch screen in use and were interested in further demonstrations. We provided several demonstrations on the types of screens that were available in order to compare functionality. The Clevertouch Pro Series was chosen due to the functionality the screens provided.

We suggested a common approach across all rooms to ensure whichever room was chosen by the user the experience would be the same.

As part of the project Universal worked with Walker Morris to provide a proof of concept room so all partners and users could stress test the screens and ensure they were comfortable with the functionality it provided.

Universal AV worked with the customer in order to put touch points and timescales into the schedule of works in order to carry out first fix in an efficient manner and ensure that when it came to installation all rooms would be left with aesthetically pleasing finishes.

Phase 1 – Universal provided a common approach and solution to 20 spaces and rooms.

The installation took place over 4 floors and covered the following:

Ground Floor Reception and Lounges
Walker Morris wanted to be able to communicate with all staff on mass and in meeting rooms so Sedao digital signage was installed to all public areas with a trigger for Global Messaging from reception which would activate a message on every screen.

Café and Lounge
Were installed with Sedao 65” digital signage displays that can show the same or individual content. A zoned audio solution with radio microphones was also installed to enable them to address the whole or part of the area, ideal for company briefings, client visits or social events.

Meeting Rooms across All Floors
A common approach to all meeting rooms consisted of varying sizes of Clevertouch Pro Series Screens with the Clevershare dongle for ease of connection.

First Floor (Client Floor)
Business Lounge
Clients are directed to the client floor and wait to be greeted by the relevant Walker Morris team member Sedao 55” display, with digital signage installed on these screens messaging can be tailored to clients waiting in the room.

Split Meeting/Board Room x 3
These rooms can either be used individually or together as one. All three have a Clevertouch Pro 75” on a Peerless quick release brackets to ensure they are aesthetically pleasing to the room. When used as one they are supported by Extron control & distribution and Sennheiser microphones.

Phase 2 – Web Conferencing Solutions
Universal AV were contacted early 2020 to carry out further works. Several of the rooms would be upgraded to have the functionality for video conferencing using the Logitech Meet Up. This had originally been planned for in phase one but with the rollout being phase 2. Planning for this in the early stages allowed for the infrastructure to be put in place.

Universal Support

Walker Morris decided at this point with the reliance on rooms it would be beneficial to hold support contracts with Universal to ensure they had that crucial support when needed. A 12 month support contract was agreed to with 2 preventative maintenance visits and ongoing telephone support. This provided Walker Morris with full peace of mind. Having Universal available at the end of a call and locally ensures support is where it needs to be when needed.

Installation

The team from Universal worked closely with Overbury the main contractor to schedule time in for first fix and contingency. All too often integrators are not brought in soon enough, but this was not the case on this project. Once the building was formally handed over to Walker Morris from the contractor, Universal went back to site to carry out second fix and install the solutions. We worked tirelessly with Walker Morris to ensure all solutions were up and running for the when the building opened and that training had been carried out with key staff on the solutions.

Universal held and attended weekly project meetings where detailed reports were given on the installation and timescales. This approach ensured that any obstacles that needed to be overcome could be done so easily, and the project was delivered on time and within budget for opening in August 2019.

Why Choose Universal AV?

Universal AV will work tirelessly with you from the initial consultation to design, programming, and integration to ensure you get the right solution for your audio visual needs in any given environment, on time and on budget. Whether you’re ready to start your project or just want to express your interest in our services, please contact us using the form below or use our contact page.