Hurrairah bin Sohail explores how hospitality, work, lifestyle, and play come together at 1880. Vega enabled these outcomes by delivering flexible technology systems that met the brief.
1880 is a members club with facilities across Asia Pacific, the latest of which is in Hong Kong. Swire was the operator for the building at Two Taikoo Place and was looking for someone to enhance the experience across a few floors for the benefit of the tenants and to elevate the specific locality of Hong Kong. This is where 1880 came in as a members club to take over the development and operation of four floors to help Swire achieve its objectives.
1880’s aim was to create an environment that would provide a high-end members club experience and the spaces envisioned had to serve this purpose. Whether members wanted to book a meeting room, settle in to work with a coffee, or just relax and extend their working environment and incorporate conversation and connections, 1880 had the task to cater to them all. The facility would have to enhance work and also play while remaining highly functional.
The merging of work and play was something 1880 approached with intention. The 1880 concept started with hospitality and was further refined. 1880 operates a facility in Singapore and that site was a source of immense learning in more ways than one. From there, the experience had to be natural and fluid. The spaces needed to be differentiated and delineated, whether it be the focused workspaces or the areas with a more relaxed atmosphere. However, the member journey through all the floors had to be seamless.
1880’s desired outcomes required a considered approach to technology. Once again, the experience of operating a facility in Singapore provided valuable insight. Quality was the topmost priority. Audio was also a specific focus. Lastly, being self-sufficient when it came to hosting events and gatherings was also high on the list of requirements.
After a comprehensive tender process Vega was chosen as the system integrator.
1880 spans four floors with the first level being a welcome area. Level two features fine dining with one of the restaurants being Michelin recommended. Level three is the working lounge and boasts a variety of meeting rooms and spaces, which includes the boardroom and collaboration rooms. The meeting spaces have been specifically designed to be flexible in arrangement and function. Level three also sports a green room as well as a large function space. Level four is a dedicated space for members with two private dining rooms, a bar, a lounge, a restaurant, a gym, and a spa.
Top sound
Seeing that 1880’s director of projects identified audio as a key area it seems prudent to start with exploring this segment of the AV deployment.
Raymond Ng, senior project manager from Vega, starts the discussion: “I would say around 60% to 70% of the conversations and meetings with the client focused on audio and the background music system. We looked at the problems and the issues they were experiencing at their other sites and that served as the starting point for us regarding conceptualising an effective technology system. Through these conversations the technical shape of the audio system became apparent. We knew that this would have to be a complex BGM system eventually spanning four layers so that all the areas could have their own music streams. And we also realised that a great deal of zoning and programming would be required.”
To meet the requirements for quality and complexity, a 64 x 64 channel matrix was selected for BGM distribution.
Meyer Sound Ashby 8C speakers together with Meyer Sound Galileo Galaxy 816 processor and MPS-488HP power supply distribution units provide sound in the premium spaces.
QSC AD-S8T-WH 8-in and QSC AC-C6T 6-in speakers powered by QSC amplifiers are used across 1880 as well. Audio signals are transmitted over Dante.
In addition, Meyer Sound Ultra-X40 and 750-LFC speakers are on hand to be deployed when audio needs to be augmented. Ng comments: “To be honest, we drew on our experience of working on hospitality projects, such as the Rosewood, to deliver the BGM distribution at 1880. In fact, I would go so far as saying that this BGM system was more complex because unlike hotels where music doesn’t mix across zones, we had to create a setup that allowed all the music streams to be available across all the zones. Vega’s experience across 40 years of working with clients on all sorts of projects really helped us in delivering for the client.”
Ng gives his final thoughts about the audio system that was deployed: “We were meticulous with the zoning and the programming of the audio system to make sure that it operated as desired and was easy to use for 1880. Due to unforeseen challenges the team had a four-month window to deliver the project. The BGM deployment’s scale made this a challenging endeavour, but once again I have to highlight the fact that our experience in working with clients and delivering projects under time crunches helped us deliver for 1880 as well.”
Flexibility first
Flexibility was a key refrain that 1880 kept bringing up throughout the course of the project. Whether it be furniture, construction, interior design, or technology the message from 1880 to its partners was the same: everything needs to be flexible. 1880 intended to be able to keep evolving and changing to serve its members better.
Vega received the message and stepped up to deliver. Ng says: “AV over IP is the best way to ensure that flexibility is delivered and we’ve deployed it many times to great success. At 1880, we were working with Netgear switches and Crestron NVX encoders and decoders. The Netgear switches are specifically designed for AV applications and NVX is a market leader when it comes to AV over IP. We were comfortable with the designed systems and we believe we have delivered the flexibility that 1880 required.”
Ng continues: “Despite tight timelines for this project, Vega’s experience ensured smooth execution, and Vega’s capabilities in structured cabling were at play, completing approximately 80% of the overall scope and providing reliable support for AV and IT system integration. Vega was responsible not only for audiovisual systems but also for IT structured cabling and partial network setup, demonstrating total integration capabilities.”
With the AV-over-IP infrastructure in place, specific systems were crafted for the unique spaces at 1880. The displays were chosen with great care. 1880 started deliberations with projection but also had the desire to make sure that the display technology was invisible when not in use. Evaluations of the space revealed that the ceiling space would not be able to accommodate projector lifts and motorised screens and this changed the trajectory of the decisions made by the client and the AV professionals.
In the large function room on level three an Absen 1.5mm pixel pitch LED videowall, measuring 4.2m by 2.36m, acts as the main display. The LED videowall serves as an artistic backdrop while not in use, and also functions as an impactful screen during presentations and events. An AV Stumpfl Pixera Two processor is used to power visuals and provide multiview capabilities for the LED display. It was of vital importance to have multiple sources on screen at the same time to make full use of the LED display real estate.
Over in the meeting spaces, Samsung displays on Chief mounts serve as the end points. Logitech Rally Minis and Rally Mini Pod extension microphones are used to enable UC&C.
For connectivity Crestron AM-3200 units handle wireless presentation. Crestron USB extenders and HDMI transmitters and receivers provide wired connectivity. With the meeting spaces, flexibility was the prime consideration and Vega worked to achieve this. The conceptualisation started with looking at the members and their usage habits. Seeing that they bring their own laptops and devices these had to be supported. This is why the options for both wired and wireless connectivity have been provided. To ensure quality audio and video, while maintaining the ease of use, Logitech products were selected. USB is supported as it is one of the most popular ports being used for connectivity. And lastly, excellent Wi-Fi coverage with high bandwidth ensures seamless meetings with no drops.
Over in the green room, backdrops set the stage against which users can create and generate content. A Blackmagic Atem Mini production video mixer and a Mackie Pro FX10 V3 mixer provide control over the audio and video feeds. Shure podcast microphones are used for audio pickup.
An extensive digital signage system using Samsung displays and Birghtsign players can also be found across 1880.
Across the finish line
The unique nature of 1880 meant that aligning objectives across all stakeholders was a unique challenge. The spaces were not just offices or ballrooms. They blended aspects from various sectors and applications. 1880’s task was to communicate this to the different stakeholders working on the project and getting all parties on the same page took time and effort.
Similarly, flexibility is easy to state as a requirement but difficult to execute. True flexibility requires all the disparate elements of a space working together with cohesion. Ng says: “We worked on the AV and IT sides of this project, and this meant that when it came to technology we could create that cohesion which results in flexibility. Being able to create the IT infrastructure and cabling meant that we could deploy a great AV-over-IP system and hence match the need for flexibility that was communicated to us.”
Ng from Vega rounds up his thoughts from the integrator’s perspective: “Normally, a corporate project is a corporate project, and a hospitality project is a hospitality project. There is very little crossover. But for this 1880 project we had to draw from all of our expertise which we have built working across sectors for years. It was extremely interesting to see how one space could embody different aspects at the same time and we worked to create technology systems that enabled this."