Nottingham City Council

Nottingham, UK

Nottingham City Council is a democratic organisation with 55 councillors representing electors in the 20 electoral wards in the City of Nottingham. The city is a unitary authority with a wider urban area that comprises a population of 667,000 and is the seventh-largest urban area in the UK. 

In 2010 Nottingham City Council moved its 2,000 employees into Loxley House in the city's Station Street, a Grade A office building totalling 213,619 sq. ft. that is now the Council's new modern, accessible headquarters. The purchase of Loxley House was one of the most significant property transactions in the UK in 2009 and is helping Nottingham City Council to cut operational costs and achieve carbon neutral status by 2016.

When Nottingham City Council made the decision to acquire the new Loxley House headquarter building, proAV was asked to deliver an extensive, high quality audio visual solution to meet its display, conferencing, presentation and meeting requirements.

Nottingham City Council's new contemporary headquarters building now benefits from a range of world class AV technologies that will enhance the Council's working and meeting environment for the organisation's workforce, partners and city residents for many years to come.

Incorporating some of the world's most groundbreaking AV technologies

A wide range of audio visual facilities were incorporated into an innovative technological solution, including full video conferencing, digital displays, interactive multimedia presentation and training facilities, projection system, gaming facilities and building wide IPTV and TV distribution.

The AV solution comprised a complex scheme that extends throughout this architecturally imposing building and reflects the Council's commitment to providing excellent services to its employees, partners and the residents of Nottingham who visit Loxley House.

proAV designed an innovative audio visual scheme incorporating some of the world's most groundbreaking AV technologies to complement this large and highly functional workspace. 

A particular feature is the building wide IPTV and TV distribution system, which was delivered in conjunction with an extensive digital signage system to broadcast content from multiple sources, including television, presentations, videos, internal communications and the internet.  Nottingham City Council can also display satellite TV content on individual screens which are located in reception and atrium areas and offices.

Nottingham City Council's new contemporary headquarters building now benefits from a range of world class AV technologies that will enhance the Council's working and meeting environment for the organisation's workforce, partners and city residents for many years to come.

The designed scheme called for a wide range of high quality hardware that was commission on time, within budget and precisely in accordance with the client's specification.

The key features of this professional, integrated AV scheme include the following tailored solutions:

Flatscreen display system

25 meeting and presentation rooms were equipped with flatscreen displays with VGA inputs.

• 25 x 50" plasma display screen, wall mounted
• Control via 8 button control panel, programmed and labelled 

SMARTboard system

6 meeting and presentation rooms were equipped with SMARTboard interactive whiteboards which combine a flexible pen-and-finger system and facility to capture work to SMART notebook software.

• 87" large format widescreen interactive whiteboards, 16:10 format with SMART software
• Active/passive powered speakers, wall-mounted
• Control via 8 button control panel, wall-mounted, programmed and labelled

Presentation facilities

7 large presentation rooms were equipped with ceiling-mounted projection systems, using wall as projection surface. 

• 1280x800 WXGA 3500 ANSI lumens widescreen projector, ceiling-mounted
• Speakers, wall-mounted either side of image area
• Audio controlled and driven via 100 watt amplifier with multiple inputs
• Control via 8 button control panel, programmed and labelled

Digital signage system

29 meeting and presentation rooms were equipped with LCD display screens with built-in digital signage players to route specific content including television, presentations, videos, internal communications and the internet to individual screens. 

• 26 x 40" LCD display screens with built-in digital signal players, wall-mounted
• 3 x 46" LCD display screens with built-in digital signage players, wall-mounted
• MPEG-2 video encoder
• IP streaming hardware and software
• HD FreeSat digital box