iGuzzini manufactures lighting fixtures for architecture and street lighting. The family business, which was established more than 50 years ago, has a sales network reaching 64 countries. Its products are celebrated for their innovation, design and eco-sustainability. Continuing in this vein, the company decided to upgrade its offices.
The 150,000sqm headquarters office has a new four-storey light laboratory, designed by Genoa architect Maurizio Varratta under the banner of sustainability and energy efficiency. The building's ecological performance received a rating of 3.5 on the Sustainable Building Challenge Protocol, the highest received to date by an office building in Italy.
As well as an R&D department, offices and showroom facilities, the building also hosts a high-tech conference room with an impressive array of AV technology, installed by system integrator Videoworks. The acoustic design was by Munich's Mu?ller BBM and the objective for the room was to achieve a multifunctional space that could be re-arranged according to needs.
The conference room, which is 24m long and 10m wide, can accommodate 300 people in the stylish 'Poltrona Frau' seating. Alternatively, the conference room can be divided into two spaces - thanks to a mobile acoustic wall made from sound absorbent timber acoustic panels mounted on a metal frame. The two smaller rooms would measure approximately 12m by 10m, each holding around 130 attendees.
Installed in this conference room is a Christie Mirage WU12K-M. With dual image processing capabilities, there are three modes of 3D input - native 3D input, frame doubled 3D and Dual Input 3D for maximum source compatibility and high-performance flicker-free operation without the need for a passive to active converter. The Christie Mirage WU12K-M was the projector of choice to deliver more pixels, and more performance for visually stunning 3D.
To comply with the requests of its client, Videoworks also specified a Crestron modular DigitalMedia switcher, which can handle a multitude of signals in various formats over various distances with a single integrated system, including the distribution and extension of the signals on fibre and STP cables.
The room's second projector is a Christie DWU670-E digital projector. This projector offers 6,000 ANSI lumens with a native WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution and interchangeable powered 2.0-4.0:1 zoom lens.
The main projection screen is a Da-Lite Cinema Contour fixed frame screen with a custom 600 x 375cm high-gain projection surface; the smaller (332 x 187cm) model is a tensioned Comm-Tec Electric Master screen with Da-Lite projection surface. The 3D projector is mounted at the end of the room with the other halfway down, right after the partition wall.
(Jim Evans)
