Hurrairah bin Sohail speaks with integrator Systems Electronics & Engineering and consultant ihD about the AV systems designed and deployed for the grand ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur is the latest addition to the hospitality market in the capital city of Malaysia. Located in
the bustling centre of the city, the
hotel seeks to provide a range of
facilities, from accommodation
to luxury dining experiences.
Consultant ihD was appointed
to design the appropriate AV
systems for the Four Seasons
Hotel Kuala Lumpur while
Systems Electronics &
Engineering [SENE] was tasked
with the responsibility of
deploying, testing and
commissioning them. Work on
the project began in May 2017
and was completed in July 2018.
Lim Min Yaw, engineered
solutions and operations manager
at SENE, says: “For this project,
the consultant specified and
designed the whole system and
selected the equipment. All the
decisions were made based on
the clients’ requirements. Our
job was to make sure that the
specifications were followed and
that the AV systems worked and
functioned as intended.”
Adrian Lim, senior consultant at
ihD, talks about the scope of the
project: “Four Seasons, as an
international hotel chain and
brand, had a set of requirements
and a set of standards that the
deployed technology had to meet.
We have worked for multiple Four
Seasons projects in Asia Pacific
and we are familiar with Four
Seasons’ requirements. The Four
Seasons Seoul which we worked
on previously was used as a
general guideline for this and the
requirements were based on an
‘unspoken’ Four Seasons design
standard.”
The grand ballroom is the main
area which required AV systems.
Min Yaw talks about how the hotel
intended to use the space: “The
grand ballroom comprises three
sections. Each section can operate
individually, or they can all be
combined into one big space. This
is made possible with the help of
movable partitions. So, the grand
ballroom is really flexible in how
it can be used by the hotel.”
Each of the smaller spaces has
been provided with a Panasonic
12,000 lumens projector along
with a 250-in Remaco projection
screen. These projectors provide
visuals when the spaces are being
used individually and they have
been installed in an orientation
that was logical with regards to
the space.
When the grand ballroom is
being used as one large space,
a Panasonic 20,000 lumens
brightness projector is called
into action. Visuals are projected
onto a 350-in Remaco projection
screen.
Finding a spot to install this
projector was a challenge as Min
Yaw details: “During the course of
the project, we learnt that there
was a big chandelier hanging in
the middle of the ballroom and
this had an impact on where the
Panasonic projector could be
mounted. Finding an installation
spot where the projection would
not be obstructed was a challenge.
After surveying the site, we found
there was a small gap in the
design of the chandelier, and
we designed the projector lift to
be small enough to fit there. We
worked together with the interior
design contractors and the M&E
contractors to figure out the
technical details and we were
able to come up with a working
solution.”
To be mindful of the aesthetics
of the grand ballroom, all video
systems in the grand ballroom
disappear when not in use and
Min Yaw says: “All projection
screens are motorised, and all
the projectors have been installed
in projector lifts. When the video
system is not being used, the
video equipment can just be
recessed into the ceiling.”
Video signals are distributed
through a Crestron DM-MD 64 x
64 along with transmitters and
receivers to carry the signal over
Cat6a cabling. The Crestron
matrix handles all scaling duties
for the video system as well.
Lim from ihD says: “We
considered video over IP for
the Four Seasons Hotel Kuala
Lumpur. The Four Seasons Seoul
is using HDBaseT and video over
IP would be a natural next step.
But the design for the Four
Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur was
done approximately five years
ago. At that point in time, video
over IP was very new. We opted
for stability and reliability
choosing to go with the tried and
tested traditional video matrix.”
Crestron HDMI plates can
be found across the ballroom
allowing users to connect to
the video system in the grand
ballroom.
Audio in the grand ballroom
is provided by QSC AD-C1200
ceiling mounted 12-in speakers
powered by QSC amplifiers. A
Symterix DSP is used to manage
the audio system. The design and
specification of the audio system
was done by the consultant, ihD.
Lim from ihD says: “The trend
with modern hotel ballrooms is
to keep the audio system simple,
most of the times comprising
basic ceiling speakers. In general,
hotels are not looking for front
of house speakers, steerable
speakers or line arrays because
such equipment represents a
significant investment and also
comes at the cost of flexibility for
the ballroom.”
Lim delves into the design of
the system: “We always use EASE
modelling when we do our audio
designs. Hotel ballrooms are
always challenging spaces
because of reverberation and
because as AV consultants we
do not have control over the
materials which will be used in
the ballroom. We were lucky that
the interior designer went with
carpets and not reflective material
which made our job a little easier.”
Regarding the audio system
deployed, Lim says: “Because the
grand ballroom is modular, the
type of events held there are
varied and different. For this
reason, the client requested for
basic audio provisions so that the
events can bring in and use the
audio solutions they prefer.”
Patch points for audio, video
and lighting can be found across
the grand ballroom as well as the
pre-function area. Allen & Heath
QU16 and QU32 mixers are used to
manage audio inputs and outputs.
Shure SLX wireless microphone
systems have been provided for
audio input. Lim says: “The
microphone system models that
we provided were impacted by
the wireless frequency spectrum
changes in Malaysia in 2018.
However, Shure was great in
sorting out all issues. We just
changed the models for the ones
which were compliant with the
new regulations.”
Dante is used for audio
transmission throughout the
public area. Min Yaw says: “Dante
allows us to have the flexibility
for zoning and sending different
types of music to separate spaces.”
Control for the grand ballroom
at the Four Seasons is provided
by a Crestron control processor.
Apple iPads serve as the input
devices.
Lim says: “Control systems for
the ballroom at the Four Seasons
had to be very specific. There is
a touch screen provided for each
of the three partitions and this
allows them to control the lighting
and the AV systems as well.”
Lighting in the grand ballroom
is provided by Philips Selecon
lights and controlled by a Strand
Lighting 250ML lighting console.
Looking back at the project,
Min Yaw narrates: “There were
two main challenges that we
faced as integrators for the Four
Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur
project. The first was about
coordinating the work. There
were a lot of contractors and
parties working on the project
and we all had to make sure that
we worked together towards
the same goal. The second was
regarding the aesthetics. Being a
five-star hotel, the Four Seasons
Hotel Kuala Lumpur was very
particular regarding the final
outlook of the space. We really
had to focus on every detail
during the installation of the
technology and liaised with
the interior designer to make
sure that the final product
was something that met the
standards of the client.”
Lim from ihD gives his
opinion: “The grand ballroom
functions exactly according to
the Four Seasons’ requirements.
But there are some technology
innovations and new products
we might suggest. Dante AV can
be an option. We are already
using Dante for audio signal
transmission and it would be
interesting to see how it performs
for video signal transmission and
whether it can make an impact
on installations.