Providing modern workspaces for individuals and businesses, the Soho House group operates four sites in prime locations across London as part of its global network of workspaces. A recent technology upgrade at these sites – dubbed Soho Works – saw A/V and IT specialist Tateside in action again.
‘Tateside has been the preferred technology partner of London’s Soho Works sites for several years now,’ explains Tateside Technical Director, Jack Cornish. ‘Before the pandemic, the technology didn’t need to be focused on videoconferencing, but the working environment has since shifted and the client requested an update that would enable better bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and plug-and-play capabilities as well as a system that could support their preferred Zoom room functionality.’
With high-end interior design and a focus on maintaining immaculate aesthetics across all sites, Tateside needed to honour the unique identity of the various Soho Works sites whilst rolling out a solution that could be replicated to provide a consistent user experience across the brand’s workspaces.
‘Our team provides both IT and technology integration for Soho Works,’ Cornish says. ‘The new meeting room standard is a Neat Bar Pro bundle housed within a Leon Tonecase to hide the technology and improve the overall room aesthetics, plus a Samsung screen. This standard has been rolled out across all Soho Works meeting rooms, based on a Zoom Room system, with adjustments made for specific sites.’
The chosen Neat Bar Pro bundle provides audio via three full-range loudspeakers with an advanced microphone array for clear vocal pick-up, with Neat Audio Processing built-in. Thanks to its wide-angle lens and image depth sensor, Neat Bar Pro can detect, enlarge and follow all in-room participants, resulting in more lifelike engagement during video meetings. Furthermore, seamless integration with Zoom ensured a Neat Bar standard was the ideal solution for the Soho Works project.
Ashton Bentley USB-C hubs, which can be mounted under desk surfaces, support network connectivity and provide fast charging of devices. The Neat Bar Pro bundle provides in-built camera and microphone functions plus a Neat Pad for easy-to-use room control. Each site required a slightly different configuration and solutions for other room styles, including a podcast studio at the Dean Street site and subdivisible meeting rooms at 180 The Strand.
‘Overall, Soho Works is aiming for systems that are easy to use with minimal technical knowledge,’ Cornish says. ‘During these recent updates, we’ve completely done away with Crestron controls for input switching and have implemented a complication-free standard with auto-switching and bullet-proof BYOD connectivity.’
‘Finding that balance between function and aesthetics can be a challenge,’ he adds. ‘But with the solutions available from Neat, combined with our bespoke integration, Soho Works now has an easy-to-operate, future-proof set-up suited to the modern working environment.’
More: www.tateside.com
