The second tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) is home to more than 100 companies as well as being is one of the Downtown Chicago’s main tourist attractions.

Recently, USIS AV was tasked with the A/V design and build over two floors of the tower that are leased by a global co-working company that provides premium work, meeting and event spaces around the world. The unique space in Willis Tower was designed to be re-configured depending on specific needs, with flex walls allowing the area to accommodate small breakout sessions and open out for larger conference and event settings.

For USIS AV Director of Engineering Anthony Magarelli, the landmark came with its challenges – not only were the team ensuring equal acoustic coverage across 17 rooms within 90,000sq-ft of space, USIS AV also had to contend with high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass.

‘Product placement was a real challenge on this project and we were constantly re-evaluating zone layout and counts,’ Magarelli says. ‘That was the beauty of working with LEA Professional amplifiers – the system is completely scalable so their form factor worked really well in this space and eliminated some of the main challenges.’

In addition, IoT capabilities such as LEA Professional’s Cloud Platform were vital to providing customer care: ‘The ability to have this system on the cloud allows us to troubleshoot projects with any of our certified support staff across different time zones,’ Magarelli says. ‘No matter where our client might be based, we can still provide them with an incredible level of support, even in a time where travel is not always possible.’

USIS AV installed ten 354 Connect Series amplifiers to provide equal coverage across the two floors. With the global pandemic causing delays all over the world, Margarelli was working against the clock to get this project completed on time. ‘It was LEA Professional’s responsiveness and professionalism that made it possible for us to finish this project, despite challenging circumstances,’ Margarelli says. ‘While we experienced some delays from other manufactures, LEA got us their product on time and they were with us every step of the way.’

‘We are proud LEA Professional’s technology could be part of such an iconic building,’ says Joey Palkowitch, North America Sales Manager for LEA Professional. ‘It’s a thrill for us to have the Cloud Platform sitting among the clouds in Downtown Chicago, and we look forward to working with USIS AV on more projects in the future.’