The Intercontinental Bangkok hotel won Vichai Trading 1983 the Inavate APAC Awards 2023 Hospitality project category. Find out in detail why this installation was a worthy winner!
Vichai Trading 1983 has made a habit of winning the Hospitality Project category at the Inavate APAC Awards. Its latest victory in 2023 was achieved with the exceptional AV deployment at the Intercontinental Bangkok hotel.
The project manager from Vichai Trading 1983, Patiyuth Gludnim, starts the conversation: “The technology deployed at the Intercontinental Bangkok was from approximately seven years ago and technology has come a long way since then. Hospitality has evolved through the disruption caused by the pandemic.”
The upgrade project being undertaken by the Intercontinental Bangkok hotel was extensive and included multiple areas from the ballroom, function rooms to the guest rooms as well. The revamp extended to interior design and a complete overhaul of technology to bring it ahead of the curve in Thailand’s competitive hospitality market. CCW Associates and Vichai Trading 1983 were the consultant and the integrator for the original installation respectively. Both reprised their roles for the upgrade project as well.
From the start, due consideration was given to technology as Gludnim says: “The Intercontinental Bangkok hotel understood that technology was crucial for spaces such as the ballroom and the guest rooms to become operational and start returning on the investment.”
The user requirements and expected outcomes for the upgrade project were clearly communicated as Gludnim details: “There was a focus on audio, they wanted to upgrade the sound across the entire hotel facility to have higher fidelity. They also wanted to improve the visual capabilities of the spaces, especially the ballroom where they wanted a display that could be moved to change the configuration of how the ballroom could be used. And overall, they wanted to synchronise the BGM and digital signage. The facility management team at the Intercontinental is lean, and they don’t have to just manage this hotel. They are also responsible for other nearby facilities that fall under the same ownership.”
We begin our exploration of the AV deployment at the Intercontinental Bangkok hotel with the ballroom where an Absen K2.5 PLUS LED videowall is the centrepiece.
The project manager from Vichai Trading 1983 says: “The hotel wanted to create a ‘wow factor’. The specific objectives to achieve this were a large 4K LED display that was capable of being moved through large suspension on a corner curve track from one side to the other side of ballroom by the work of only one operator. They wanted to make sure that the ballroom could be turned around for events and functions quickly within a day, which is why it was important to explore new and innovative rigging solutions.”
He continues: “The wow factor has been achieved with a 10m by 6m LED videowall that can actually move across the ballroom to enable different configurations and orientations for how the space can be used. Creating this system with rails and rigging was a ‘super challenge’. The screen weighed 2.5 tonnes and we had to coordinate with the civil engineer to make sure the rigging system was up to the task. We also had to liaise with the interior designer to make sure that the rigging did not interfere with the aesthetics. The end result is the Absen LED videowall which is hanging from rails on the ceiling, it can be augmented with floor stands, and it can be moved across the ballroom to the different walls as required.”
Novastar processors are used to power the Absen LED videowall. In addition, Panasonic 10,000 lumens brightness projectors project visuals onto Draper screens giving the ballroom additional flexibility. Projection with Seemax screens is also deployed in function rooms and other areas of the hotel.
Video signal transmission is accomplished over IP with Atlona encoders and decoders, which are also deployed across the wider hotel spaces. The project manager from Vichai Trading 1983 says: “We had to redo the cabling from scratch, but because of AV over IP our job was made much easier. We just had to use network cables and nothing else.”
Lumens VC-A61P cameras are used for capturing proceedings in the ballroom.
A special component included in the visual chain is the Extron MGP 641 scaler. Gludnim explains its inclusion: “The LED videowall is 4K but we cannot control the resolution of the input content, it can be 1080p or 2K or anything. The hotel wanted to make sure that the visuals on the LED really impressed whoever saw them and to accomplish this we decided to use the Extron scaler. It gives us that extra bit of quality when we are putting visuals through to the LED videowall and makes sure we get the most out of its 4K capabilities.”
On the side of audio, Renkus- Heinz Iconyx column speakers from the original deployment have been retained. The audio has been augmented in the ballroom with the addition of Tannoy Reveal 502 ceiling speakers. Tannoy ceiling speakers of differing models are used across the hotel spaces and facilities and are paired with Lab. gruppen amplification.
On the back end, QSC amplifiers and a Q-SYS Core 110f processor have been provided in the ballroom. QLAN and Dante are used for audio signal transmission. The selection of the Q-SYS Core was made with the information that the Intercontinental Bangkok hotel was looking to remotely manage and monitor AV systems.
Gludnim narrates: “One of the challenges was to manage the inputs and outputs and link them to a monitoring system which would then also link with the nearby facilities under the same ownership to give the hotel staff a central point from where they could take care of all the systems. Our job was made easier because the Intercontinental Bangkok and other facilities have standardised their systems with Q-SYS. We still had to program the systems according to the preferences of the operators so that they could maximise efficiency across the sites with a lean team.”
Audio-Technica microphones are used all across the hotel and the project manager from Vichai Trading 1983 talks about the reasons behind the selection: “Frequencies available for wireless microphones are limited in Thailand but this is a challenge that we have faced many times. The Audio-Technica 3000 series microphones and 5000 series microphones are very suited for projects and installations in Thailand so we were confident we could create a good system. However, the Intercontinental Bangkok hotel posed a unique challenge because it is located close to a police station which meant that the possibility for intereference was high. Additionally, the hotel had a high requirement for confidentiality due to the high profile nature of some of the expected patrons. To ensure there was no interreference, we worked with CCW to design and deploy receivers and antennas across all the spaces at a higher density.”
Across the lobby and open spaces of the Intercontinental Bangkok hotel, the Q-SYS core handles the unified BGM system while Samsung displays paired with BrightSign players are used for digital signage. Gludnim says: “Seven years ago, the displays were all 1080p but since then the resolution of screens has gone up. Now, even with 55-in or 65-in panels you can be talking about Ultra HD or 4K. So, we decided to use BrightSign players to make sure that these new screens were being used to their full potential. Additionally, the hotel and its marketing team have been using BrightSign for a very long time and they are very familiar with the software and management of assets with it.”
Gludnim concludes: “The installation is complete, and the systems are stable. I think we have managed to deliver on the requirements of the client and specifically have been able to help the facilities team monitor and manage the systems more efficiently.”