BACKGROUND
The StarTUp at the Armory features more than 26,000 square feet of space in a unique building dating back to 1933. The space was once a shooting gallery inside the former Maryland National Guard Armory building in downtown Towson. The property features an open floor plan with high ceilings and is adjacent to Baltimore County government headquarters.
INTRODUCTION
Towson University contacted Visual Sound to build out a new facility (Armory) to be equipped with audio visual equipment within the University’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation hub. StarTUp acts as the University’s “front door” for start-ups, small business, and corporations to connect and pursue opportunities for innovative collaboration and venue creation.
CHALLENGES
The existing building structure created a challenge due to the the buildings construction, making it difficult to run cabling through walls, the floor, and crawl spaces. The open space previously was a basketball court. Acoustics within the open spaces required beamforming line array loudspeaker technology and video walls for adequate viewing coverage throughout the large open collaboration space.
SOLUTIONS/SPACES
Large Open Collaboration Space – Featuring two Mitsubishi 3×3 video walls (55” displays) configured in Left & Right combined and Separate display modes with portable NEC confidence monitors for the presenters, Bose steerable line array loudspeakers, presentation through Crestron wired and Mersive wireless connectivity, Shure microphones for speech reinforcement, Crestron touch panels for control of the space and Williams Sound assistive listening technology.
Boardroom – Featuring large NEC 98” flat panel display, presentation through Crestron wired and Mersive wireless connectivity, Vaddio cameras and Biamp ceiling hung microphones for conferencing and recording, Atlas ceiling speakers for program audio playback within the room and Crestron touch panels for control of the space.
Huddle Spaces – Featuring NEC flat panel displays, presentation through Crestron wired and Mersive wireless connectivity, Vaddio Camera/Microphone/soundbar appliances for conferencing and Crestron touch panels for control of each space.
Conference and Collaboration spaces – Featuring ClearTouch 86” interactive large flat panel displays, presentation through Crestron wired and Mersive wireless connectivity, Vaddio cameras and Biamp ceiling hung microphones for conferencing and recording, Atlas ceiling speakers for program audio playback within the room and Crestron touch panels for control of the space.
Classrooms – Featuring NEC large flat panel displays, presentation through Crestron wired and Mersive wireless connectivity, Vaddio cameras and Biamp ceiling hung microphones for conferencing and recording, Atlas ceiling speakers for program audio playback within the room and Crestron touch panels for control of the space.
Mixed Use Room – Featuring three ClearTouch 86” large interactive flat panel displays, presentation through Crestron wired and Mersive wireless connectivity, Vaddio cameras and Biamp ceiling hung microphones for conferencing and recording, Atlas ceiling speakers for program audio playback within the room, Crestron touch panels for control of the space and Williams Sound assistive listening technology.
Media/Gaming Room – Featuring NEC 98” flat panel display, presentation through Crestron wired and Mersive wireless connectivity, Xbox & Playstation Gaming consoles and Media Players, Extron 7.1 Surround Sound with Bose EdgeMax speakers for program audio playback within the room and Crestron touch panels for control of the space.
Scheduling Panels – Featuring Crestron touch panel interfaces with LED indicators lights for room/space availability for outside visitors.
RESULTS
StarTUp at the armory is now a state-of-the-art facility that connects workforce development and entrepreneurship programs utilizing AV and collaboration technology designed and integrated by Visual Sound. Recently, StarTUp was named North America’s top university economic development initiative by the University Economic Development Association (UEDA).
