The Customer: The Macallan Distillery
The Challenge: Located within the stunning Easter Elchies estate in Speyside, the Macallan Distillery and Visitor experience opened its doors to the public in 2018. This impressive development is also home to the “Macallan Academy”, a centre of excellence where best practice brand education programmes are delivered to internal staff. In addition, the Academy space will be utilised for larger briefings and hosted events for external parties. This dual functionality requirement was a key factor in the selection of the technology for the proposed audio-visual solution.
As part of the design of the Academy, the head of brand education for The Macallan set out a brief for the technology requirements, to create a ‘perfect set-up for the broadcast & learning environment when physically present at the Macallan estate or when viewing and/or interacting virtually’. The brief dictated that it should be possible to use any software platform when conducting a live stream broadcast or video call.
nuvideo were engaged by the client at the outset of the project, to design, develop and implement an audio-visual solution which would not only meet these requirements but would also deliver a state-of-the-art technology centrepiece fit for the brand.
The Solution: A flexible ‘classroom’ solution has been implemented within the space. The design makes provision for up to 12 participants in a round-table boardroom configuration, with the flexibility of being easily reconfigured for larger theatre style audiences.
Key technology takeaways:
- A stunning 3m x 1.7m LED video wall to provide a large “bezel free” digital presentation canvas.
- High quality ceiling microphone arrays, configured to give excellent coverage for the entire the room, regardless of the configuration
- A powerful and flexible audio solution, delivering crystal clear audio output throughout the space.
- Selectable PTZ high-definition cameras, suitable for boardroom or lecture theatre layout scenarios.
- Wireless collaboration capability for employees and guest users alike, by the simple “click of a button”, utilising Barco’s market leading Clickshare solution.
- A streamlined, user friendly touch control interface for the day-to-day operation of the in-room audio visual systems
Taking into account the client’s requirements and the technology brief for the space, nuvideo opted for the following key components as part of the overall audio-visual solution:
- 3m x 1.7m Absen LED Video Wall (1.5mm pixel pitch)
- Shure MXA series Ceiling Microphone Arrays
- QSC Q-SYS Core Audio Processor & Amplifier, paired with QSC AcousticDesign Series surface mount loudspeakers
- Barco Clickshare CX-50 wireless collaboration solution
- Crestron control with Apple iPAD mini touch panel interface
The Result: The facility in Speyside now operates as ‘Digital Centre of Excellence’ for broadcasts and webcasts.
The organisation has been able to make use of the room for important board meetings and product launch events.
