TripAdvisor

The Client and the Site 

TripAdvisor's European headquarters sit in the heart of Soho, London, spread across three floors in lively Soho Square. Perhaps the most globally-dominant company of its kind and certainly one of the most renowned, TripAdvisor operates the world's largest travel site. TripAdvisor currently boasts over 100 million user reviews, and opinions shared by its users cover more than 2.7m accommodations, restaurants & attractions, and over 260 million unique monthly visitors to its site.

The Brief 

Crossover were approached by TripAdvisor and after extensive research we were chosen to deliver AV systems throughout their floor by floor refurbishment of their entire UK corporate headquarters, with the following key elements of the audio visual systems required:

• A client-facing 4th floor Reception area, where the audio visual equipment needing to deliver a real 'wow factor', including a 5m long 'airplane wing' feature-piece with custom-integrated Apple iPad tablets, as well as a large recess-mounted flatscreen with a multitude of AV functions, and a zoned background audio system.
  
• A fully customised bespoke digital signage system for the Reception area.
  
• A multifunctional Games & Entertainment room on the offices' 6th floor.
  
• An extensive zoned sound system across four floors, including a custom outdoor speaker installation providing music for parties and corporate entertaining on two large balconies.
  

The refurbishment was to be rolled out floor by floor throughout a three month period, however delays in the appointment of an AV contractor meant that most of the audiovisual installation works had to be commenced and completed within 4 weeks as a post-refurbishment retro-fit.

The Solution 

When designing systems for a company with the stature and reputation of TripAdvisor, and knowing that they place great importance on the comfort and working environment of their employees, we knew it would be important to play our part in creating a highly aesthetically-pleasing working environment, and to deliver a high quality audio visual system.

The 4th-floor Reception area was fitted with the aforementioned aeroplane wing with four iPads integrated into it, a 65' recessed LED-backlit flatscreen display as well as an additional iPad which runs an 'app' that gives the user a totally simple user interface to control the AV systems. This 'app' is the front-end of the system, but the AV control system uses bespoke-programmed software from AMX, a leading manufacturer of audio visual control systems, to ensure that operation of all the audiovisual environment is as user-friendly and simple as possible - making it easy and intuitive for even the least technically-savvy users. This iPad allows the Receptionist to:

• Easily control the source of music and its volume across the Reception area, and six different toilets, with one of the available sources being carefully chosen streamed musical content from Crossover partner Auracle Sound.
  
• Easily select what's showing on the flatscreen in the office's main Reception area - whether it's the eye-catching and bespoke digital signage system that Crossover designed for TripAdvisor, or High Definition television channels, or wireless streaming of PowerPoint presentations.
  

For the office's 6th floor a background music system based on Speakercraft 'bezel-less' in-ceiling loudspeakers and outdoor all-weather loudspeakers was fitted in the Games Room, Kitchen/Dining Area, as well as the two balconies, while the staff Games Room also benefitted from a comprehensive gaming and entertainment system with a smart LED TV, gaming consoles, foreground audio system, and film and TV playback capabilities. In order for staff to be able to play presentations and movies from their own computers, a cutting-edge Extron cable retractor system was integrated into the Games Room credenza, presenting the most elegant and hassle-free AV cable management system currently on the market. Once again Crossover installed and bespoke-programmed an AV control system using iPads, making the systems very easy and intuitive for all the staff on site.

Functionality Overview

• Feature-piece 4th floor Reception area AV installation including a 5m-long airplane wing custom-installed with three Apple iPads, and a multi-function large-format Samsung LED showing off bespoke Digital Signage in all its glory.
  
• A multi-zone audio system stretching across the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors.
  
• Fully-featured 6th floor Games and Entertainment room with a Smart TV, X-Box gaming console, Extron Cable Cubby and retractors, DVD and laptop connectivity, and a Speakercraft-based multi-zone audio system spread throughout the entire floor.
  
• Full control of all AV devices via a custom-programmed iPad-based AMX control system using three Apple iPad tablets, unique mounting solutions and bespoke-designed graphic user interfaces.