Halkin’s New Euston Corporate Workspace AV Upgrade

Tateside delivers sophisticated corporate workspace AV solutions installed at the new Mainframe premises for leading flexible workspace brand Halkin

Halkin, a leading name in London’s flexible workspace scene, has enjoyed a close and evolving relationship with AV integration specialists Tateside. What began with small-scale installations has gradually expanded as Halkin’s footprint grew. One of their largest and most sophisticated collaborations to date is at Halkin’s new prime location at Mainframe Euston, marking the workplace brand’s ninth location.

Mainframe is a fully renovated landmark building featuring three floors of high-specification office and co-working environments in London’s Knowledge Quarter.

Trusted Partnership Drives Advanced Corporate Workspace AV Solutions for Halkin

“We’ve done a lot with Halkin over the past few years,” says Jack Cornish, Technical Director at Tateside. “It started small, but as they have expanded, particularly with the King William Street project, we were able to build up our technical delivery and deepen that trust. This year, we delivered Mainframe Euston, which was a big step up in terms of complexity and scale.”

Halkin Mainframe was designed with both aesthetics and functionality in mind. The space features a bright, modern design and a variety of working environments, including private offices, shared workstations, meeting rooms, and a multi-functional event space, catering to a wide variety of business needs. To match this flexibility, the workspace AV systems had to be hardworking but easy to use, capable of supporting different types of use throughout the day. The project scope ranged from global background audio to meeting room AV systems and even divisible room AV setups, showcasing the breadth of Tateside’s expertise.

Bose Background Audio and License-Free Music for Corporate Ambience

All three floors were equipped with Bose background audio systems, divided into two to three audio zones per floor to create a tailored ambience. These zones are controlled from an iPad located at reception, allowing staff to manage the audio environment across the entire site. “Being able to manage all floors from one interface was key,” says Cornish. “Staff needed accessible control without any level of technical know-how, and most people are comfortable using an iPad.”

In terms of content, the background audio is based on a license-free music playback system. The playlist, specially curated by Ollie Humphreys at Soundscape, plays throughout the shared and transitional spaces in the building without requiring a PRS music license. “It’s designed for those ‘in-between’ areas, places where you don’t want silence, but you also don’t want to pay commercial music licensing fees every year,” explains Cornish.

For the hard of hearing, Tateside introduced an IR hearing loop system in key areas, ensuring accessibility. “We couldn’t install traditional floor loops in some spaces due to building constraints,” continues Cornish. “We opted for a Williams Sound system instead, which is convenient and high quality.”

Meeting Room Technology Standardisation with Zoom and Neat Systems

The core focus of the Halkin project was its various meeting room AV technology upgrades. To establish a technology standard, six meeting rooms were equipped with Neat Board Pro systems, each configured for use with Zoom Rooms software, the clients’ preferred conferencing solution. Each space is equipped with a Neat Pad booking panel for easy room scheduling.

Ashton Bentley BX breakout hubs, mounted under the desks, give full BYOD functionality, allowing users to simply walk in with their device and connect to the conferencing ecosystem.

“We’ve standardised most of Halkin’s meeting rooms around Zoom and Neat because it just works,” remarks Cornish. “It’s reliable and easy to support, especially across multiple sites.”

Flexible Divisible Event Space: Seamless AV Automation and Control

The most technically demanding and rewarding space to fit out was Halkin’s subdivisible event room on the ground floor. This high-spec, flexible space can be used as one large room or split into two smaller meeting rooms. Intelligent automation was required to ensure the rooms could switch quickly between modes, whilst maintaining a familiar user experience.

Each half of the room is equipped with four cameras, eight in total across the space, which operate in sync when the room is opened into a single open configuration. Sennheiser Dante-enabled ceiling microphones and a combination of ceiling and pendant-mounted Bose Professional loudspeakers provide audio. The entire system runs on a Q-SYS backbone for DSP and control. “The divisible room was the main technical challenge,” confirms Cornish. “Getting camera switching, audio behaviour, and screen content to adapt to the room’s physical state required tight integration between hardware, software, and the architectural layout.”

Each room runs on Yealink’s S90 Zoom Room system, which includes a dedicated mini-PC, AV hub, room sensor, and touch panel. One particularly elegant feature is the interface design, which allows users to start with a basic room control interface or swipe across the touchscreen to access a more granular Q-SYS user interface for additional control if needed. “We wanted to strike a balance between simplicity for everyday users and advanced control for power users,” says Cornish. “That layered interface gives Halkin the best of both worlds.”

When in open mode, the room features two 98-inch displays at either end and a delay screen on a mobile trolley for extra visuals when required. Using the sensor on the partition wall in the middle, the AV system automatically switches to the desired mode and connects to the appropriate room peripherals based on the behaviour picked up by the sensor. Lightware’s Taurus UCX handles signal management, connecting users’ devices via a USB-C to the room peripherals in each divisible space instantaneously, including all video and audio elements, while providing handy device charging at the same time.

Future-Proof AV Infrastructure for London’s Knowledge Quarter

Having worked with Halkin across multiple projects, the skilled Tateside team were well-positioned to execute this complex AV integration with confidence. Their familiarity with the client’s preferences and processes allowed them to anticipate needs and deliver a clean rollout across the new facilities.

“It was a pleasure to deliver this one,” reflects Cornish. “From a project management point of view, everything went smoothly. Having developed a strong relationship with the client, we knew exactly what we needed to do, and they trusted us to get on with it.”

From well-thought-out audio zones and plug-and-play meeting spaces to automated divisible rooms, every element of the system was crafted to meet and anticipate the demands of a modern multi-use corporate workspace AV upgrade.

Ready to Transform Your Workspace AV?

If you’re planning an AV upgrade for your meeting rooms, event spaces, or entire office, Tateside can help you deliver scalable, reliable, and beautifully integrated solutions.

Contact our team today to discuss your workspace needs.