Creating meeting spaces that work harder
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When you invest in a new meeting space, the technology has to do more than look good on a specification. It needs to work for the people using the room, fit the way your organisation operates and adapt as those needs change
Users should be able to walk in and start a meeting without calling IT. Important client conversations should not be interrupted by unreliable connections. And a flexible space should be able to support everything from a board meeting to a presentation or event.
That was the challenge for the Emerson Group at The District on King Street, Manchester.
Founded over 60 years ago, the Emerson Group is one of the UK's largest privately owned property development companies, with three principal divisions: Jones Homes, Orbit Developments and Emerson International. Its commercial division, Orbit Developments, is behind The District, a premium workspace operated by Orbit Spaces.
The Group had already worked with Carillion on successful installations across its wider estate, so it knew the value of working with an AV partner that understood both the technology and the environment.
"We knew the quality of the job that you guys could deliver, so it was basically a no-brainer to go back and get you guys to do the install." Kieran Jones, Technical Project Coordinator at The Emerson Group and Co-founder of Orbit Spaces.
The brief: make workplace technology work for everyone
The larger meeting space at The District needed to work hard. It had to function as a 12-person boardroom for everyday meetings, but also open up into a presentation and event space for around 30 to 40 people. It needed to support video conferencing, presentations and collaboration, while remaining simple enough for anyone to walk in and use.
For Emerson, the challenge was familiar to anyone responsible for workplace technology:
- Making BYOD genuinely straightforward
- Supporting different devices and corporate IT environments
- Creating a flexible room that could justify its investment
- Integrating AV without compromising the design
And ultimately, ensuring the technology worked without creating another support headache for IT.
Familiarity was particularly important. Emerson wanted technology that customers would recognise and that its own team could support, rather than introducing niche systems that could create another learning curve.
"We didn't want to put something in that was too niche. We wanted to put stuff in that is recognisable and more likely to be in professional environments already." Kieran Jones.
The solution: a flexible meeting room AV system
Carillion started with the way the rooms needed to work, then designed the technology around those requirements. The aim is not to fill the room with needless technology, but to choose the right technology for how people would actually use the space.
The seven-person meeting room features a Logitech Rally Bar Mini and Barco ClickShare, providing a straightforward video conferencing experience in a smaller space.
For the larger room, Carilion combined Logitech video conferencing, a Shure ceiling microphone array, integrated speakers, audio processing and amplification, and a large display. The microphones and speakers were integrated into the ceiling alongside the acoustic panels, keeping the technology discreet and allowing the room design to take centre stage.
To support seamless presentations and BYOD, Barco ClickShare provides wireless connectivity, with USB-C and HDMI connections also available. That combination was deliberate. Wireless presentation gives users a cable-free option with maximum flexibility in the room, while physical connections provide a reliable alternative for users who prefer a plug-and-play cable connection.
It is a small but important example of designing for the real world rather than assuming every user, laptop or IT environment will behave in the same way.
Carillion also considered what would happen after installation. Orbit already uses Logitech across its wider estate, so the Emerson Group team was familiar with the technology and could deal with basic issues themselves. Customers were also more likely to have encountered the systems before.
Why Carillion: meeting room AV designed and installed properly
For The Group, choosing Carillion was not simply about buying the right equipment. It was about knowing that the technology would work together, work in the room and work for the people using it.
That takes more than product knowledge.
Carillion had to understand how the rooms would be used, work within the wider building project, coordinate with other contractors and install the technology without disrupting an occupied workplace.
The installation was completed in around four weeks, with disruptive works planned around existing tenants and the activity of other contractors.
That practical experience matters when AV is being installed as part of a live refurbishment. A meeting room cannot simply be handed over with a collection of boxes on the wall and a user manual on the table. The technology needs to be integrated, commissioned and ready for people to use.
For The Group, there was also the reassurance of an established relationship. Previous Carillion installations had already demonstrated the quality of the work, giving the team confidence to bring Carillion into another important project. As Kieran puts it, the decision was “basically a no-brainer”.
The outcome: a meeting space people want to use
The finished spaces give users the flexibility they need while keeping the premium look and feel that makes The District stand out.
And perhaps the biggest compliment is that the technology does not draw attention to itself.
"People are walking around and they don't notice the tech there, but they get the benefit from using it." Kieran Jones.
That is a strong measure of success for any meeting room project. Users should not have to think about the camera, microphone, connections or speakers. They should be thinking about the meeting.
The response from users has been positive, with the space described as feeling particularly premium and the technology becoming a natural part of the environment.
It is still early to measure the commercial impact of The District specifically, but the wider Orbit estate shows how meeting facilities can contribute to the value of a flexible workspace. At its Stockport location, meeting-room revenue doubled within around six months after Orbit introduced a booking system and improved meeting room technology.
For organisations planning their own meeting room investment, the lesson is straightforward: good AV is not about buying more technology. It is about creating a better experience.
Carillion brings the design expertise, integration experience and practical understanding needed to make that happen, from the first conversation through to installation and beyond.
The result is a meeting space that works harder, without making people work harder to use it.
Talk to the Carillion experts
Planning a new meeting room, refurbishing an existing space or looking to improve your workplace AV? Talk to Carillion about designing a meeting room technology solution around your users, your space and your IT requirements.
