Hurrairah bin Sohail visits the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park hotel and finds out how this massive project was designed and delivered by the consultant and the integrator.
Bangkok’s hospitality sector has not seen any significant changes over the last couple of years after experiencing a boom. However, the establishment of the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park changes that. Developed and owned by TCC Land Asset World, the old Imperial Queen’s Park hotel property switched and has been renovated to become the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park. As part of the renovation, the AV systems at the hotel were completely upgraded to meet modern Marriott standards. Lawrence Siow from Asia Tech Associates was the consultant for the project while Vichai Trading 1983 was the integrator.
Siow begins: “This was a huge job and a huge installation. We are talking about close to 20 meeting rooms and three ballrooms that needed AV equipment as well as the public areas. I advised on the products that would be suitable and gave a general specification according to Marriott’s requirements. The system was then deployed and tweaked along the way as the installation progressed.”
The discussions for what products would be suitable did not just involve the AV professionals as Siow details: “While this is TCC Land Asset World’s site, the branding for the hotel is Marriott. The end goal was to deliver a hotel that would meet the standards of the Marriott brand. So we had a team from Marriott involved with the project as well as the owners.”
Another challenging aspect of the project was the time frame. Work started and was completed over the course of a few years. During this time frame technology advanced and new products were released. At the same time Marriott’s own standards for technology deployments were upgraded and amended. This meant that the consultant and the integrator had to constantly re-evaluate the project designs.
Ballrooms galore
As Siow mentioned, the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park has three ballrooms of differing sizes to cater to the needs of its clients. Siow says: “Initially the plan was to have LED walls in the spaces. However, after a positive experience with LCD videowalls in a Marriott hotel in Korea they changed their mind and wanted to take a similar approach for this installation.”
The main attraction in the grand ballroom is an 8 by 4 videowall comprised of Samsung displays. Siow explains its function: “The videowall can be used as two separate 4 by 4 displays and both displays will have a true 16:9 aspect ratio. Or you can choose to use the 4 by 4 area in the middle instead. Using the full videowall is also possible if you don’t mind the image being squashed.” An Extron Quantum Connect is used as the videowall processor. Input and outputs are managed by a Kramer 8x8 HDMI matrix. In addition to the videowalls Panasonic projectors are also used along with a Da-Lite projection screen, which has been retained from the legacy AV systems.
Siow says: “This was an interesting project in that a lot of the old equipment has been repurposed. At the start I was a bit circumspect but I decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot. In a way it is good and you can retain a bit of the history of the old hotel.”
TOA speakers provide audio output while amplification is provided by QSC amplifiers. Biamp DSPs are also used.
Siow says: “The main requirement for audio was that it should be heard clearly which is done with ceiling speakers. We have the system to work with a pair of portable Bose column loudspeakers and it is designed to work with the ceiling speakers with delay and precise zoning.” The second ballroom is on level five of the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park hotel. A smaller space, this features a 5 by 5 LCD videowall which comprises Samsung 55-in panels and brackets.
The LCD videowall is constructed in an interesting manner. Siow explains: “This videowall is not like the system in the ballroom on level two. It does not use a dedicated processor. We are using the in-built processors of the panels. The 25 panels are then connected in series via DVI. Then the system is hooked up directly to the switcher.”
Siow also talks about the rationale behind this setup: “The benefits of this system is that it provides cost saving to the end-user. However there are some drawbacks as well. When the videowall is switched on, the panels turn on in a sequence resulting in a ‘snaking’ effect. The other related issue is that the videowall can only display one resolution. If there is multiple switching of output content then the whole videowall needs to refresh which results in the snaking effect all over again. This could be solved by adding a presentations switcher. However, since the content displayed is static and from one source, there are no issues during operations for now.” For audio, some of the existing amplifiers and Audio-Technica microphones have been used. TOA speakers have been used for audio output. An AMX system provides control.
Regarding the decision to just go with ceiling speakers in this ballroom, Siow says: “High audio is a requirement for this space. The system has been designed to be flexible and to accommodate portable solutions so that more sound reinforcement can be provided if required. We have all the needed provisions for rental companies to come in and expand the system as they want. The design work was all directed to provide flexibility and making the systems easy to use.”
The ballroom on level seven of the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park hotel is a unique space. Siow details: “Previously, this space used to be a car park. But as part of the renovations it was repurposed to be a ballroom. Initially, this ballroom was also supposed to feature an LCD videowall. But as you can see, the ceiling is so low that there is no space. I made a special report to the architect to get this point across. In the end we decided to go with projection for the visuals in this space.”
Visuals in the ballroom are provided by four Panasonic projectors along with Draper motorised screens. The provision of projectors also allows the space to be used in full or half configuration. A number of floor boxes with UTP connections have been provided to facilitate flexibility.
Audio is managed by a Biamp DSP and QSC and TOA speakers provide audio in the space. Siow says: “The back cans for the speakers had to be removed because of the low ceiling. But that is a good thing in some ways because if you leave the speakers in the box you restrict bass.”
An AMX system with an iPad is used to provide control. Siow says: “The way I designed the system and the interface was taking into account the physiological impact as well as the wishes of the end-user.”
Looking back at the project, Siow surmises: “With projects of this scale and stature, it is important to get a good partner. I do not sell the products. So you need to make sure that your partner can provide the support that is needed. Vichai Trading 1983 has the stature and the track record to show that it can deliver the support required. Their input was invaluable.”
Meeting room
The Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park hotel has close to 20 meeting rooms. The display technology of choice is a Samsung LCD panel. However Draper screens have been provided in some rooms and a Panasonic projector can be brought in if required. A Kramer matrix switch manages the video inputs and outputs.
Wireless presentation is also possible. Siow details: “We have WePresent systems for wireless presentation. We made the provision because tech savvy end-users prefer it.”
Audio is provided by TOA speakers. Siow comments: “All the meeting rooms have a dedicated DSP. Initially I was looking at a single switcher which had microphone input. But I decided to go with a dedicated DSP in the end.”