AV installer Tateside introduces state-of-the-art audio-visual meeting room technology with a sleek aesthetic for peak performance at the Mercedes Formula One team HQ in Brackley.

It’s all about the relationship

In recent years, we have frequently provided Mercedes F1 with AV solutions, including meeting rooms, trackside digital signage, and an auditorium. 

In March 2021, the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team completed an 18-month project to revamp the Race Bays at its state-of-the-art facility in Brackley, West Northamptonshire. 

On the centre’s ground floor, Mercedes used the Race Bays for car builds, company-wide debriefs, new announcements, and celebrations after each race weekend. 

In recent years, we have frequently provided Mercedes F1 with both factory and trackside AV solutions, including meeting rooms, trackside digital signage, and a presentation space within their auditorium.

Aesthetically please meeting room technology

British American Racing built the Race Bays in 1999. They are areas where the cars are prepared for their next race and where all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. The mechanics assemble all of the engineered parts in an orchestrated burst of activity. The cars are stripped down, serviced, examined, and tested to ensure reliability after races.

The race bays also double as a communal space for team events, presentations, and debriefs. Tateside was tasked with providing a “lights on viewing” experience for presentations that aligned with the aesthetics-led design of the new Race Bays without making any permanent alterations to the space.

As a pinnacle meeting space in a business mainly made up of engineers, the aesthetics of the AV system had to be pristine. Projections were an obvious choice to meet the scale requirements while avoiding a permanent footprint in the space like an LED screen would.

Jack Cornish, Technical Director at Tateside, comments, “As a top conference room in a company mostly composed of engineers, the aesthetics of the AV system needed to be immaculate. The projection was an obvious choice to meet scale requirements while avoiding permanent floor space on the mezzanine like an LED screen. 

While selecting the best equipment, Epson released its brightest-ever 30,000-lumen projector, the EB-L30000. We knew immediately that the EB-L30000 was the right choice for the Race Bays, so Tateside became the first company in Europe to install this state-of-the-art laser projector.

Custom design

We built the projector into wall space to minimise aesthetic impact in the mezzanine surrounding the Race Bays. With support from Epson’s technical specialists, we developed a custom-made grille to hide the projector from plastering while ensuring that cooling wasn’t affected.

The 5m wide, tab-tensioned motorised ALR screen provides optimum viewing across the race bay floor and balcony for presentations and race events. We calculated the screen size based on the distances to the farthest and closest viewers, viewing angles, and font size. 

The Crestron 3-Series DigitalMedia Presentation System and 7″ touchscreen provide control within the Race Bay. From here, we can control audio sources, such as the overall volume and microphone levels, as well as source selection on the big screen.

Available sources include live TV or a local laptop, ingested via an HDMI plate and extended over HDbaseT. A Crestron DigitalMedia receiver is at the projector to display the programme output. Audio is extracted in the rack and sent to the digital beam-steering loudspeakers within the room. We added additional delay speakers to the room’s rear to distribute audio. Several in-ceiling speakers provide room-filling 180° horizontal coverage on the balcony to assist with clarity and audio distribution.

The result was a compelling AV solution that turned the Race Bays into the ultimate multi-functional meeting room without interrupting its cutting-edge sleek design. The system’s user-friendly operation allows all team members to present and hold debriefs with confidence.

If you want to introduce projection technology to your meeting room, contact us for a no-obligation chat!