Nottingham Trent University recently underwent a multi-million-pound refurbishment of the Belgrave Postgraduate Centre. Based in the heart of Nottingham City Centre, the aim was to create new study spaces, bookable meeting rooms & flexible active learning classrooms for postgraduate students and students from schools such as Nottingham Business School.
The brief for the project was to provide two key solutions: One was a teaching lectern with a small compact footprint but could also hold enough audio-visual equipment for wireless casting and control systems. Secondly, for the active learning rooms, there was a requirement for a flexible stand that would hold a screen but also could double up as a whiteboard. The key feature of this product was it had to be able to be movable in case the furniture needed to be re-configured for traditional teaching or be moved back to a more collaborative pedagogy.
Graeme Bagley, Teaching Space Designer and Product Owner at NTU was instrumental in ensuring the solution was in keeping with the initial design proposal, with all relevant parties up in the loop and was involved in deploying demonstration units as a mock-up of the space. Together with Roche AV, who was the systems designer and integrator on the project, TeamMate was able to put forward both our VariHite Lectern and Evolve Screen Divider as suitable solutions for all room types.
For all teaching and seminar rooms the VariHite Lectern with a 4U rack was deployed. The worktop was a suitable size for an Ergotron Monitor arm with a Wacom 21″ touch display, a control panel housing for an Extron 7″ touch panel and a Power Puck. Available Panasonic displays in the room utilized a WolfVision Cynap Pure Mini wireless sharing devise. A nice addition to the front shield of the VariHite Lectern is a magnetic logo that can be removed and changed depending on which of the eight NTU schools is using the room, for example, Nottingham Business School.
For the x3 technology-enriched teaching spaces, TeamMate Evolves were used in conjunction with flip-top tables to create a truly flexible & agile active learning space. In ‘collaboration mode’ the tables were butted up to the Evolve stand enabling users to work in groups and share content with the Pansonic TH55CQE1/2 displays and soundbar combination. Controlling the displays and fitted to the central connectivity module, along with power, USB fast charge and HDMI was an Extron NBP100. On the reverse of the Evolve’s is a ceramic writing surface with an integrated pen tray. With a range of fabric colour choices available, NTU decided on a Wish LTH67 from the Camira Blazer Lite range.
The final result meant that overall x18 VariHite lecterns and x24 Evolve Screen Dividers were utilised across the project. Roche AV integrated both the VariHite Lecterns and the Evolves over a couple of weeks, the modularity and accessibility of the Evolves meant for a streamlined installation despite working to a deadline and the challenges of a refurbished building.
Graeme Bagley, Teaching Space Designer and Product Owner commented, ‘NTU has a long history of collaborating with TeamMate to provide our technical teaching furniture. TeamMate’s communication throughout the project and their support with evaluation units were invaluable, helping us plan effectively. Additionally, their organisation and delivery in collaboration with RocheAV ensured the project ran smoothly. As we advance towards Digital Sophistication, these furnishings and relationships are crucial in enabling our colleagues and students to seamlessly integrate digital technology into their teaching and learning experiences.’
We are extremely proud of the finished installations throughout the Belgrave Postgrad Centre. The VariHite Lecterns met the client’s requirements perfectly and the Evolve units in particular look superb! It was a pleasure to work alongside TeamMate on another flagship project at Nottingham Trent University and we look forward to collaborating again on future projects.
Craig Pickard, Director of Projects and Innovations
Roche AV
