CLIENT
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), located in the heart of Melbourne city along the famous Yarra River, has set the standard as a leader for providing innovative, extraordinary events and functional & contemporary spaces of every shape and nature.
To compliment the venue’s award winning design and ultramodern image, management engaged the services of the ULA Group, to design, install and partially supply a variety of the LED screens for their venue. Positioned in the prime locations throughout the convention and exhibition centre, the screens are designed to educate and inform guests on upcoming events, facilities, services and opportunities available within the venue.
MCEC also famously boasts a 6-Star Green Star environment rating, the first of its kind in the world for a convention centre. This puts a great deal of emphasis on all fixtures and appliances installed and used in the venue. With the offering of 63 meeting rooms and 40,000 square metres of exhibition space, MCEC is in a class of its own when it comes to creative diversity and physical capacity in tailoring to the specific needs of their exhibitors, guests and staff.
CLIENT BRIEF
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre prides itself on consistently delivering exceptional service and facilities to its guests, exhibitors, staff and performers. The LED displays had to be visually engaging both in presentation and location to capture the attention of those who would visit the venue.
Due to our long-standing relationship with MCEC, our experienced team of technicians, designers and installers already understood the dynamics of the venue and how the LED displays would best represent the venue and their intended use of the displays which was to advertise and inform. There was rigorous testing and tender process to ensure the LED product selected met all of the required criteria, and Vuepix Infiled was the chosen supplier.
STAGE ONE
SUPPLYING SCREENS FOR EXISTING PAVILIONS
The ULA Group was awarded a tender to design, install and supply a large outdoor Super Screen for the Clarendon Street entrance of MCEC, as well as four indoor screens for MCEC’s foyer. All the LED displays had to fit in existing frames within the venue.
LARGE OUTDOOR SUPER SCREEN – CLARENDON ST. ENTRANCE
The Outdoor Super Screen was replacing existing plasma screens to provide a seamless and dynamic visual display, mounted on the exterior of the building and visible to both venue visitors and neighboring traffic.
The Super Screen was to be designed to operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and required a reliable advanced software to easily update content and remotely monitor the LED display for maintenance purposes.
The VuePix Infiled L series outdoor panels were specified as the preferred solution for this application. There were several constraints around weight and also conforming to design elements of the rest of the venue. Working with our installation partners, a custom solution for mounting and installation was achieved.
The installation of the LED displays had to work around the erratic hours of operation of the venue and have minimal disruption to visitors and events.
The 36-panel configuration was installed with an automatic brightness sensor to automatically adjust brightness levels according to sun exposure.
FOUR INDOOR SCREENS FOR THE FOYER
The four LED displays which were located within the venue in varying degrees of natural light, had to be customized to fit in existing frames, which resulted in creation of a fully customised solution.
The removal of the existing LCD displays as well as the installation of new LED screens had to yet again work around the limited hours to ensure a minimal disruption to visitors and events.
The VuePix Infiled customised modular displays of 3.5mm pixel pitch & cabinets are used mainly to advertise the events and functions happening in the venue, navigating visitors to their destination.
STAGE TWO
MCEC’s $200 MILLION EXPANSION TO RESHAPE THE EVENT EXPERIENCE
In 2016, MCEC started work on a $200 million 20,000sqm expansion, including new flexible multi-purpose event space, new exhibition halls, additional meeting rooms, a banquet room and more catering facilities.
Rutledge AV was awarded the tender and appointed to project manage whole AV installation within the new premises. Based on a long term relationship and previous delivery of LED displays for an existing building, the VuePix Infiled technology was specified as preferred solution for the new expansion.
Rutledge AV in conjunction with ULA Group designed and delivered new LED technology based on the scope provided by the architects appointed by MCEC.
OUTDOOR SUPER SCREEN AT NEW CONVENTION CENTRE ENTRANCE
The new outdoor VuePix Infiled super screen welcomes all visitors approaching the Convention Centre through the newly built main entrance. Promoting current exhibitions, functions and events happening within the venue, it delivers sharp visuals of exceptional quality in any light conditions, thanks to inbuilt automatic brightness sensors.
The VuePix Infiled ER3 series outdoor panels allowing front service maintenance access were chosen for this application. With its high brightness and serviceability, it was the right fight for this application. With an impressive native resolution of 2560 X 512 Pixels, it allows for rich content to be shown and read up close to the screen.
FOYER SCREEN AT THE NEW MCEC EXTENSION
One of the first elements that visitors notice when entering the new MCEC expansion, is another VuePix Infiled screen, which has been strategically positioned within the new foyer, to provide all information needed for easy navigation through the venue.
Advertising all major events happening within MCEC, it serves both the purpose of promoting the customers of MCEC, as well as directing foot traffic the right way.
The VuePix Infiled S series panels of 3.6mm pixel pitch deliver superb visual experience for all visitors seeking the right directions within the venue. This screen was also designed with an angle in the screen, an option that can be done with the S Series screen as well like all of the other screens within the venue, a front service platform.
THE VUEPIX INFILED SOLUTION
The ULA Group provided solutions throughout the entire process of the MCEC project beginning with the successful understanding of the requirements in the tender process through to the lights on of the 7 LED displays at the Melbourne venue. We ensured that the venue’s commitment to energy efficiency through their 6-star green environment rating was adhered to in our design and product.
The VuePix Infiled technology was instrumental in the provision of highly efficient and visually engaging displays which provided the client guaranteed exposure in their presentations and assurance in the technology, with short-cuts on quality.
Due to the screen’s in constant operations 24/7 it was imperative that the VuePix Infiled LED displays were installed with a remote monitoring system to report on possible technical issues in real time.
THE RESULT
When a venue depends on first impressions, it is imperative that every element of the building is creating an atmosphere that makes people want to come back. Through the installation of the 7 VuePix Infiled screens both in and outside of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, guests are greeted with visual consistency and engagement throughout their time at the venue. Providing entertainment news, venue hire information, conference acknowledgement and even just some welcoming imagery, the audience will only see it if the LED displays are inviting and engaging.
MCEC has created a culture of activity which evokes anticipation and excitement for all of its guests whether they be conference organisers or customers visiting an exhibition. Making events to remember is MCEC’s specialty and the ULA Group were proud to be associated with such an influential location.
With the new expansion, MCEC has firmly cemented their position of the largest convention and exhibition space in Australia, with an increased total size of over 70,000sqm.
www.mcec.com.au
www.ulagroup.com
