A fresh start for PZ Cussons
31 August 2010
Multi-national consumer products company, PZ Cussons, has opened a brand new 40,000 sq ft corporate headquarters in Stockport, UK. Locally situated systems integrator Pure AV, was contracted to provide audiovisual solutions including the first installation of Christie MicroTiles to be completed outside of the USA. Chris Fitzsimmons went along to take a look.
In times of recession it’s tempting to believe that the world shuts up shop and all is doom and gloom. However in Stockport, of all places, it appears that this is far from the case. The recent opening of PZ Cussons’ brand new, £6m corporate head quarters in the North West of England has provided the region with a shot in the arm of investment as well as a feast of brand new AV technology for the hungry technology fan.
The new HQ is continuation of the company’s investment in the region, following the opening of a £26m centre for innovation at the front end of 2009, where it develops new products for its range of personal wash and hygiene products. However, the new site on Aviation Way is more than just a headquarters building. In the words of PZ Cussons’ head of IT International, Ged Bithell, the new offices were envisaged as: “The company’s flagship building in terms of technology, delivering a wow factor to visitors and providing a template for all future sites.”
And wow factor, it certainly has, in tub loads. From the outside, let’s face it, the building is another office on the Manchester Business Park near Manchester Airport, but once you’re through the revolving doors the first thing that strikes you is the video wall which dominates the foyer.
32 of Christie’s new MicroTiles are arranged above the reception desk in an 8x4 configuration (3.26m x 1.22m) providing a daylight resistant solution to the glazed entrance lobby.
There are a fair few boxes to be ticked when selecting a video wall solution, and Christie appears to have covered all of the major challenges. Firstly, there were space constraints. The position available to mount some form of video wall, as required by the initial specification, was only 350mm or so deep. Secondly, as has already been mentioned, the atrium is glazed to full height on two walls exposing whatever solution was arrived at to full, direct sunlight.
Having seen examples of LCD video-walls, the PZ Cussons team were also keen to avoid the large bezels associated with such solutions. With projection not an option due to the brightness, PureAV was then approached by Christie directly, and told about MicroTiles, which appear to have provided the perfect solution.
Speaking at the site, Alan Marshall, Pure AV’s Divisional Director, said: “As you can see, the MicroTiles cope incredibly well with the brightness in the space. It’s broad daylight and the content still looks great.”
The wall itself is running at 4800 x 1200 resolution, driven by a Christie Vista Spyder unit. Content is served from a trio of Brightsign HD signage players, and distributed from the Spyder to the media wall via DVI over twisted pair Baluns from Kramer.
Other sources include the building-wide Cabletime IPTV system, and these are all scaled via a Kramer VP-728 scaler-switcher. Content selection for the video wall is controlled by an AMX Netlinx 3100 processor coupled with a wireless MVP 5200 touch panel.
However, the atrium really is just the beginning of the story. The offices of PZ Cussons benefit from a comprehensive, site-wide AV and data network consisting of Cat-7 cabling, terminated to the devices with Cat 6. A small amount of fibre is also used to bridge between the two wings of the building through the core, due to limited cable run space.
All of the AV signals are switched over Cat-7 cables using Kramer baluns. Although these are designed for use with Cat-6, Kramer and Pure AV made extensive tests over similar cable run lengths to ensure this would function as intended.
The focus of the ground floor is around an interesting flexible space. The normal configuration is of a central common area. This surrounded by walled-off meeting rooms and a large, 24-seat boardroom along one edge, with video conference rooms and another, informal meeting room along the other.
The central area includes a raised stage, divided by white “sails”. Each segment is soft furnished, and Sanyo PLC-XW60 projectors are used to play clips from current marketing campaigns and corporate films. When combined a with a large amount of NJO LED lighting fixtures, this creates a vibrant, yet relaxed atmosphere, popular amongst staff who don’t require the services of one of the more fully equipped meeting rooms.
The boardroom is furnished with a ceiling mounted Panasonic PTZ-6700 projector on a motorised Audipack in-roof lift. Projecting onto a motorised Euroscreen Sesame screen, sources include a Blu-ray DVD player, a local PC, and a number of auxiliary inputs. These include both HDMI and VGA and are located in Kramer T-BUS table connection points in the boardroom table and also on the lectern.
Room control and source selection is again provided by AMX, with a Netlinx 5100 processor and MVP 5150 wireless panel being backed up by a 16 button Mio 16 wall panel. This is an invaluable fall-back should the battery run out on the wireless option.
The videoconference room is fitted with a pair of Samsung 52” LCD displays, one of which is equipped with a Smart interactive overlay. The second means that the VC corespondent is always on view whilst content is being worked on. Pure AV installed a Polycom HDX7000XL system, which is expected to be the standard for PZ Cussons’ other sites in future.
Three additional meeting rooms are fitted with wall mounted Samsung 52” LCDs and Smart overlays, along with iPod docks, and a further three have no fixed equipment but can make use of mobile AV carts. These are SMS MT2000 stands fitted with 52” displays, Smart Overlays, Cabletime IPTV receivers and Denon DVD players.
With the exception of the boardroom, the meeting spaces are all controlled via a Logitech universal remote control, selected for its familiarity to staff, and attractive price point. It’s not something that Pure AV have worked with before, but Alan Marshall says that the results have been very good.
Elsewhere on the other two floors of the building, these facilities have been duplicate to provide staff with a total of 26 meeting and videoconference spaces.
Most of the East wing of the ground floor can be converted into a large auditorium. Movable walls bounding the boardroom and two meeting rooms can be slid away to create a much larger space.
Its audio needs are served by a pair of Nexo PS10 cabinets mounted amongst the ceiling services. These are driven by an Ohm CFU-A2 amplifier mounted in the rack on the first floor. Sennheiser wireless microphones are supplied for presenter audio, along with a Sennheiser IR audio distribution system for the hard of hearing
The video system consists of a pair of Panasonic PT-DZ6700 units, projecting onto corresponding 3.2m wide Harkness screens.
The mobile lectern can be located in one of three positions in the space – stage-left, stage-right and centre. It’s equipped with a selection of sources (DVD / Blu-Ray), laptop inputs and a docking station for the wireless MVP 5200 control panel. This remotes to an AMX Netlinx 5100 processor. This processor governs the audio and video source selection, as well as controlling the LED lighting.
In the West wing of the ground floor is located the canteen, and a wellness suite. These are both served by an Australian Monitor background music system and more TV distribution via Cabletime.
On the first floor, the UK boardroom is another divisible space, featuring Optoma HD projection (selected due to its small size compared to comparable 3000 Lumen 1080p models) and KEF stereo sound. This too includes Kramer table-top inputs for VGA, HDMI and stereo audio, as well as containing power outlets and network connections. Two similarly equipped halves can be combined for larger meetings.
All in all, this adds up to an impressive, modern workspace. Perhaps more importantly it’s one that the staff make use of. During our visit, the “softer” meeting spaces were more in use than the hard ones – reflecting their popularity. Also telling, are the remarks of Pz Cussons’ Chief Executive Alex Kanellis: “After four, six and eight weeks people are still coming into work smiling.”
When PZ Cussons commissioned the project, in the words of Ged Bithell they wanted to “Change the way staff worked on site. That goal has been achieved. The company also wanted to have a “wow” affect on visitors – that too is certainly achieved. Finally, it wanted to establish a technology template for future sites, which would standardise VC equipment and meeting room solutions across the globe. Again, this object is amply achieved. So, overall, mission accomplished –and it looks great too!
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