Fabryka Wełny Hotel & SPA is a stylish and modern hotel located in the heart of Poland, not far from Łódź. It was built on the grounds of the former industrial empire of the Baruch family involved in the production of cotton fabrics. Located along the Dobrzynka River, the complex was one of the largest and most modern factories in the region. The factory’s entourage is reminiscent of the past, so that the industrial atmosphere of the building has been preserved.

The building offers 122 unique, comfortable rooms, including family rooms and 4 exceptional suites, a total of 240 beds, 9 functional conference rooms, ideal for business meetings with a total area of 900 sqm, a concert and ball room Pawelana with an area of 500 sqm, a wedding hall providing the possibility of any arrangement up to 300 people, 370 parking spaces and catering services. Moreover, there is a relaxation area equipped with a swimming pool, dry sauna, steam bath, jacuzzi, as well as Tkalnia SPA & Wellness and a three-colour bowling alley with its own bar.

Purpose

The task of the AV solutions integrator was to provide audiovisual signal distribution solutions. The client commissioned the design of a suitable communication system between audiovisual signal sources and displays and the implementation of intuitive control of the system by the end user.

Responsible entity

Modulit Solutions is a multi-brand distributor with a portfolio of more than 3,000 customers in 27 European countries. The company offers a comprehensive range covering everything Pro AV installers and system integrators need – from ergonomic office solutions to a full range of audiovisual equipment from over a dozen carefully selected brands (including Kramer). Besides, the company provides consultancy on the design and implementation of these systems.

Implementation

Modulit Solutions Polska participated as a partner from the very beginning of the implementation as its expertise lies both in the supply of audiovisual signal distribution solutions and in design and consultation within this area.

From our perspective, the key elements were a site visit with verification of the other AV system components and consultation with the people who would be operating and supervising the systems supported by our solutions. This provided our engineers with a clear picture of what the technical conditions of the project are and what the solution is supposed to look like from the “front end”, i.e. the usability side, and what the expectations and competencies of the operators are. As a result, we were able to select the right system components. During implementation, we were naturally available for consultation – we provided information on what to connect, where, how and with what, what to click in the settings, and so on – said Łukasz Trojanowski of Modulit Solutions Polska.

Solutions from the Kramer portfolio have been implemented in both the philharmonic hall and the venue’s conference rooms. There are few manufacturers in the world offering such a broad portfolio of solutions from Signal Management and AV signal processing. The manufacturer offers solutions for transmitting an audiovisual signal from point A to point B, regardless of the distance, or when there is a need to duplicate, drive or reformat the signal. Kramer offers precisely such comprehensive solutions in its portfolio.

The extensive range of AV signal extenders is worth mentioning, including AVoverIP solutions, which offer extraordinary flexibility in the management of AV signal transmission. In addition, all signal switches use the USB-C standard. The Kramer Control solution, a platform for creating control systems, should also be mentioned. In addition to this, the range also includes more consumer-oriented solutions, such as Kramer VIA, a wireless presentation system for use in meeting rooms or huddle spaces.

Due to the existing conditions (multiple rooms, possibility of quick connection and splitting) and the client’s expectations (automation and simple operation), we decided to implement the most optimal solution for AV content management, i.e. AVoverIP technology. The decisive factors were the media used, such as twisted-pair, and the decentralised nature of the system, where the transmitters and receivers networked together using NETGEAR network switches are key. Regular network cable is an inexpensive medium, allowing for long distances between successive system elements – compared to regular HDMI cable, which is great for short distances, twisted-pair allows for considerable savings already at the installation stage and, in the event of damage to the cable route, for example, is easy to replace. The distributed characteristics of the system, on the other hand, allow any matrixing of the AV signal, which is simply essential for shared rooms. AVoverIP also means flexibility in the event of future changes, especially when it comes to adding more terminals, whether they be signal sources or displays, it is trivial to do so – explains Łukasz

The AVoverIP system in Fabryka Wełny in Łódź takes full advantage of the benefits of this technology by also allowing simple point-to-point AV transmission (i.e. from one transmitter to one receiver), but also one-to-many or one-to-all. 

Alongside this system, Kramer Control, a control interface for users, has been implemented. Its function is to help the users of the venue to conduct a lecture/training/presentation efficiently. What happens “behind the scenes” is just a series of automations and processes that happen at the push of a button. You want to start a training session? Press the “presentation” button and the window blinds lower, the projection screen comes down, the lighting scene changes and the projector starts up, ready to take a cue from the user’s device. Whether the room is split or connected at this point – Kramer Control knows what to do to make sure everything goes smoothly.

The control system is a classic centralised architecture – we have the “control system brain” or, as the name suggests, the central unit of the Kramer control system, which is responsible for storing the scenarios, commands or macros that are triggered by pressing a button on the second element of the system This second element is a touch panel with a displayed graphical interface for control, designed in Kramer Control software according to the user’s expectations (including aesthetics). Connections to the individual “terminals” of the system – displays, projectors, AVoverIP devices, roller blinds or lighting – are made via appropriate gateways, which are linked to the Kramer Control system unit.

End result

Both users and venue staff appreciate the automation running in the background and the ability to simply change system settings from the touch panel. An addition that has also received particularly good feedback is the aforementioned VIA, i.e. the ability for a user who wants to show something on the big screen to connect wirelessly to the display system – a projector or screen. Whether from an iPhone, Android, Windows laptop or Macbook, it simply works, without cables (although there is also an option for traditionalists) and without USB dongles which “like to disappear”. Positive feedback also comes from our partner – MKM Display. The combination of AVoverIP, Kramer Control or Kramer VIA with other AV system components is easy to integrate and implement. And we are particularly pleased to see this – because a successful project is one where all parties involved are happy. Fabryka Wełny in Łódź is exactly such a project – said Łukasz from Modulit Solutions Polska.


Jakub Krzywak

administrator

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