AVI-SPL sets the standard at AIA’s Hong Kong office, rolling out a standardised and sustainable AV experience across 265 meeting rooms so every meeting experience feels premium.
AIA, one of Asia’s most recognisable life insurers, has long championed wellbeing not only for its customers but also for its employees. That philosophy took shape in the redevelopment of its Hong Kong headquarters at 1 Stubbs Road, envisioned as the city’s first urban campus.
Designed to embody AIA’s ‘healthier, longer, better lives’ ethos, the headquarters blends lifestyle amenities such as a convertible basketball court/ auditorium, gym, and staff club, with 12 floors of office space. At the core is a comprehensive technology backbone that integrates these diverse facilities into a seamless employee experience.
As part of the redevelopment, the technology programme spanned eight workstreams across 265 meeting rooms, 1,500 workstations, and 1,800 staff, establishing an ecosystem that supports a frictionless user experience throughout the building.
The AIA technology team developed a clear strategy to align stakeholders and ensure that each workstream delivered against the business’s needs. Patrick Stewart- Blacker, building technology project director at AIA, shares: “We needed something different from our supply chain. The pandemic changed the AV landscape in Hong Kong. So, we looked for vendors who would partner with AIA to deliver across multiple floors simultaneously, but also take seriously the installation standards that we set ourselves alongside a desire to improve on the accepted sustainability practices, especially the unnecessary waste that goes to landfill.”
He continues: “We needed real transparency in delivery, bearing in mind that some of the lead times for products were fifty to seventy weeks. We needed a set of partners, not suppliers. There had to be an open and transparent dialogue between my team, which was lean, and the integrators’ project delivery team. We looked for integrators who had shared values, who would share challenges, and work collectively to meet all of the challenges that the mid- and post-market threw at this project. AIA made very tactical decisions on the selection of vendors; the weightings were less about commercial, although significant, and more on technical capability and the team being proposed. At the time we procured some of these packages, we needed partners with a global reach.”
To meet these demands, AIA made the strategic decision to appoint AVI-SPL as the main project integrator. Dayne Jans, director of operations, APAC, shares how they got onboard: “AVI-SPL secured the project through a combination of our global reputation and local expertise. That’s really what sets us apart in the market. We have worldwide reach to top engineers and highly skilled AV technicians, but at the same time, we understand the local context. If we encounter challenges that can’t be resolved locally, we can tap into our global network. From a client’s perspective, that’s very attractive because it gives them access to expertise that might not otherwise be available in their market.”
A campus for the people
From the moment you arrive at Stubbs Road, the curved glass façade on the building featuring a 50x10m LED display positions AIA’s new headquarters as a landmark on the Hong Kong skyline. Inside, the ground-floor lobby sets the tone with a 5x5m Absen LED installation integrated with Lidar sensors and a K-Array audio system to deliver interactive art experiences.
The adjacent sports hall exemplifies the building’s multiuse ethos. Doubling as a 400-seat auditorium, it is fitted with 24 ceiling-mounted flying points to accommodate multiple staging and broadcast configurations. Specialist events consultancy Ptarmigan Integration helped design these adaptable spaces. Centred around a 7x4m Absen 1.2mm touring LED wall, the venue’s AV backbone relies on NDI distribution, Analog Way switching, Disguise EX3 video processing, Shure microphones, QSC audio processing, and K-Array arrays for a versatile and resilient performance.
Moving on to the corporate office housed within the headquarters, AIA’s starting point was a familiar pain point: there weren’t enough meeting rooms and staff often struggled to find available spaces. Jans explains: “The first priority was to increase the number of meeting rooms. The brief was really driven by user feedback. AIA conducted workshops and worked closely with us to explore how meeting rooms could be improved. The aim was to make them easier to use, but also robust. Everyone knows how frustrating it is to walk into a meeting room, not know how to turn the system on, or find it doesn’t work.”
To improve utilisation, AVI-SPL reoriented meeting rooms towards communal areas, such as kitchens, and integrated occupancy sensors from XY Sense, which automatically released unused rooms back into the booking system. Jans explains: “Just by rethinking five rooms per floor across more than ten floors, we effectively created 50 additional meeting spaces.”
Creating a uniform experience Early in the project, AIA made the decision to standardise its meeting rooms across all floors, regardless of function. Jans explains the reasoning: “From AIA’s perspective, the priority was standardising the size and complexity of rooms. Instead of looking at them as individual spaces, they approached it systematically: a four-person room, a six-person room, and so on as they moved up the building. The idea was that if you walked into any room on any floor, the experience would be the same. That consistency was key, and from a support point of view, the AIA end user services team wanted to avoid having to manage multiple different room configurations.”
Technology choices in the meeting spaces reflect this emphasis on simplicity and consistency. Meeting rooms across all floors follow a standardised design built around Crestron Flex with LG displays varying from 32 to 98-in, Jabra PanaCast 50 videobars, Shure MXA920 ceiling array microphones, QSC Core 8 Flex, while JBL column array speakers were installed to provide powerful audio.
Connectivity was provided by Extron solutions and Gude IP-controlled power modules for remote support via Crestron XiO Cloud. All products have been configured for Microsoft Teams Rooms, ensuring AIA employees had a consistent and reliable platform for hybrid meetings. Jans remarks: “The open architecture of the Crestron ecosystem and its ability to integrate cloud-to-cloud with other solutions were key factors in the selection. The XiO Cloud management platform brought Crestron to the forefront compared to other solution providers. The AIA team tested most of the leading solutions on the market, and each had its strengths and weaknesses. What this process showed us was the real value of the time we spent evaluating products.”
Reflecting on the brands chosen in the meeting spaces, Jans observes: “As AIA’s needs expand, the system can grow with them. These brands also have reputations for durability and their robust customer support mean less downtime and greater confidence for AIA. For a project of this scale, that reliability was non-negotiable. These products are also user intuitive. The combination simplifies operation, so employees don’t need to spend time learning complicated controls.”
Sustainability was also a cornerstone of the project, shaping decisions from procurement through to installation. Beyond the choice of technology, AVI-SPL worked closely with AIA to minimise the environmental impact of the rollout itself. Jans explains: “The project was supported by many manufacturers, and that was a key part of its success in meeting deadlines. LG, for example, supported us from the very beginning from their global senior leadership flying into Hong Kong to ask how they could help, right down to day-to-day interactions. We requested that unnecessary accessories be removed from packaging to reduce waste, which they supported, and at short notice we asked for 2,000 extra monitors, which they delivered on time. It wasn’t just LG, but this was one example of the trust, responsiveness, and support we received from manufacturers.”
Jans adds: “We also looked at how sensors could support sustainability. For this project, we used XY Sense and integrated it into the building management platform. The sensors detected occupancy in each room so if a meeting was scheduled to start in five or ten minutes, the air conditioning and lights would power on to prepare the room. If no one showed up, the sensors registered that and automatically shut everything back down. It was a simple but effective way of saving energy. And when you scale that across 265 rooms, those small things really add up.”
A ‘lean in’ attitude
One of the standout floors of the AIA headquarters is level 19, which has been divided into three key areas: the executive offices, a staff dining room, and the AIA Club. By day, the AIA club functions as a staff lounge, and by night it transforms into an event venue capable of hosting up to 180 people.
Designed as a self-service space, Ptarmigan Integration refined the more complex use cases of the ground floor auditorium/sports hall into a streamlined set of scenarios for the AIA Club. The AIA Club is equipped with a 10x2m Absen 0.9 mm pitch LED wall and full Shure MXA 920 ceiling array microphones to ensure coverage for events, workshops, and training, with seamless integration for remote participation. Crestron 1-Beyond is also deployed here, supporting both events and global board meetings.
Stewart-Blacker recalls a key moment that contributed to the project’s success: “AVI-SPL were fully engaged with the other 265 meeting rooms when it became clear that one of our integration partners was struggling with this space and another. Without fuss or taking advantage of the situation, they stepped in, filled the gap, and completed the installation. I’m not sure how, but they managed to negotiate with suppliers and deliver the solution within an extremely short timescale. For me, this was a testament to the team ethos that the project fostered.”
Meanwhile, Vega Global took charge of the 1,300 workstations across 12 working floors. Vega Global was selected for their ability to deliver at scale and at speed, while also maintaining the high installation standards set by the AIA project team. Uniformity was critical, and each desk featured Humanscale’s M-Connect3 integrated docking station and screen arms, paired with Logitech peripherals and Jabra headset options. Much of the building’s technology blends seamlessly into the background, an intentional design choice made by the teams. SpinetiX digital signage provides bilingual wayfinding and announcements across the floors, while the building’s app ties everything together. Employees can use it to book gym classes or sports hall sessions, register visitors, or search for free meeting spaces.
When working on a project of this scale, it isn’t always the advanced features that pose the biggest hurdles. More often, it’s the practical and logistical details that determine how smoothly a project runs. Jans shares candidly: “One of the things we found challenging was the sheer amount of equipment to procure, receive, label, stage, update, and make sure everything was done systematically. We relied on super-detailed programmes, personnel who knew exactly what they were doing, and standardised the workflows.”
Reflecting on the project’s success, Stewart-Blacker concludes: “We did not set out to create technology artistry; our goal was to deliver technology that truly supported the business’s needs. While some of the systems we built are complex, what users experience is a simple interface whether through the building app or the AV systems. The team I asked so much of demonstrated the power of having complete ownership of all technology areas. We thank our consultants (WIT Consulting, Ptarmigan, En-Trac) and integrators (AVI-SPL, Vega Global, Habitap, NewTech) for playing a vital part in making the experience exceptional for the people who call 1 Stubbs Road their working home.”