Outline
Hotel Indigo London K West Shepherd’s Bush, was once home to the iconic BBC Kensington House studios where legends such as David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley recorded. The landmark site has been transformed into a contemporary new venue, where a series of social spaces flow effortlessly into the next, reflecting how modern working and socialising is evolving.
Co-working spaces and three fully-equipped meeting studios, collaborative breakout spaces and a dedicated events bar, have been thoughtfully designed to bring people together, hosting up to 68 guests with ease.
Flock restaurant has an open kitchen with bespoke pizza oven, and an intimate private dining room next to the restaurant lends itself perfectly for celebrations of up to 12 guests.
Initially working as consultants on the project, CGA Integration identified the hotel’s AV requirements and wrote a specification for the project to meet the budget. CGA Integration was subsequently appointed by the main contractor Elliott Group, to carry out the AV installation across the communal and public areas.
Challenges
Originally the iconic BBC Kensington House studios, this building was not designed as a hospitality venue. Low ceilings and limited ceiling voids presented a challenge to house all the infrastructure required by a modern hospitality venue. CGA Integration worked with the other Trades and the design team to aesthetically fit the music delivery systems, and meeting room equipment required by a modern hotel, into the limited space available in many key areas.
Technical
The project comprised of three main areas:
Level 1 – The Spa – (please see separate case study)
Level 3 – The Lobby Reception Area and Flock Restaurant & Bar
Level 4 – Meeting Studios, Co-working space and lounge
All areas are part of one large Eco System such that all elements can be managed and checked remotely by CGA Integration as part of their full support service. CGA Integration has the ability to check, reprogram, update or just reboot all devices on site without the need to engage the site engineers or IT team.
Level 3 – The Lobby Reception Area and Flock Restaurant & Bar
CGA Integration installed ceiling mounted speakers spread throughout all areas and zoned into; Bar, Reception and Main Seated Dining in Flock, to give an even sound throughout.
Two DJ points were fitted and the space is also able to share the DJ points from the 4th floor. All 3rd & 4th floor areas are wired back to the main central IT / Comms Room on Level 2, ensuring that the equipment is kept cool and not tampered with.
Level 4 – Meeting Studios, Co-working space and lounge
CGA Integration installed video conferencing in two of the three meeting studios with 75” and 86” wall mounted screens and ceiling retractable video projection systems, ensuring ultimate flexibility.
The video conferencing rooms have a ceiling mounted microphone, ceiling speakers and a camera above the screen. Simple USB connection presents all these peripherals as standard Windows or Mac peripherals, so clients can make a video call on their device, with their address book and security, to enable the whole room to be connected and ‘on the call’.
In addition, a 75” wall mounted screen was also installed in the lounge area and the Co-working space has been fitted with a retracting ceiling projection system, DJ points and two radio microphones for speeches and presentations.
All areas are touch panel controlled. The lighting is also integrated into these touch panels for ease of use and to minimise visual controls. In the Meeting Studios, touch panels are open for delegate interaction but in public areas touch panels have a key code to control access to controls.
The three Meeting Studios, Co-working space and lounge have an integrated set top box from the hotel’s TV system to allow TV to be shown in meeting rooms for sport and world news events.
Most areas have a wall mounted Bluetooth node and analog input plate to allow for a variety of music input sources, both wired and wireless. All rooms have video input plates allowing HDMI & VGA connection up to 4k and wireless screen sharing from all mobile devices, laptops and tables.
Some adjoining rooms have the ability to share video & audio, and all areas have access to the background music streams and DJ inputs.
Response
Nicolas Braud – General Manager Hotel Indigo London K West Shepherd’s Bush commented; “I’ve built my career working with premium operators to ensure I can deliver standout guest experiences that drive both culture and commercial success. Getting the music and meeting delivery systems right is key to delivering that aim. CGA has designed and installed systems which enable us to offer our guests solutions that support how modern working and socialising is evolving.”
