Case study · Insurance
Chubb Insurance, London
Project overview
- Client
- Chubb
- Location
- Central London
- Sector
- Insurance
- Technology
- PA system
The brief
Chubb needed to replace an end-of-life PA system at its 88,000 sq ft UK head office in central London, where refurbishments had left areas with no coverage and others with constant hiss. With 1,000 people in the building and three floors sublet to tenants, the work had to be right first time with minimal disruption.
What we delivered
- Site evaluation and re-planning of the specified PA design to match the refurbished building layout
- Complete PA system installation across seven storeys, worked out of hours over five consecutive weekends
- 46 ceiling speakers, 28 Apart horns and speakers, Cloud zone mixers, QSC amplification and a digital paging microphone
The result
Delivered within five weeks with zero disruption to normal operations and, in the client's words, not one snagging item post-completion. The first fire drill produced zero complaints about coverage or sound quality.
Context
Since moving into its 88,000 square foot head office in central London 12 years ago, Chubb had made a series of changes to the interior fit-out that compromised the integrity of the internal messaging system. When preparing for a major refurbishment programme, Facilities and Project Manager Paul Hatterall decided it was the ideal time to replace the legacy system with a more modern solution: “Quite simply the messaging system was not fit for purpose anymore. There were a lot of areas that had no coverage at all while others suffered with constant hissing. As an old system, it wasn’t really an option to upgrade – it had to be a complete overhaul.”
As a seven-storey building with three floors sublet to commercial tenants, installing a completely new PA system was not going to come without its challenges: “As a landlord we have health and safety obligations to our tenants as well as our own employees. It was essential that we got the installation right first time and with minimal disruption to the 1,000 people who work in the building.”
Having drawn up the scope of works, Paul set about finding an installation partner that not only had the expertise to work with a highly sophisticated PA system, but could also deliver against an extremely tight programme. AV2events was appointed as the specialist AV installer on the project.
Delivery
Following an initial site evaluation, AV2events agreed an installation schedule with Chubb that spanned five consecutive weekends. Paul explains: “The only way to deliver this project was out of hours working, which AV2events were more than happy to do without charging us a premium.”
Although the PA system had already been specified, changes to the building layout during the refurbishment meant the original designs no longer matched what AV2events would be working with on-site. AV2events therefore worked with Chubb to translate the designs into a new, workable and robust plan.
“AV2events very quickly assessed the system and were able to adapt the installation plans accordingly. I have to say, we were extremely impressed with the speed and accuracy at which they did this. Their attention to detail and knowledge of AV is impeccable.”
— Paul Hatterall, Facilities and Project Manager, Chubb
Result
Despite an accelerated installation programme of just five weeks, AV2events delivered the project to the highest quality standards: “This was the first time in my career that there was not one snagging item post-completion. The installation was absolutely spot on, so much so when we held our first fire drill, there were zero complaints about lack of coverage or sound quality.”
Paul was equally impressed with the professionalism of the team: “AV2events are in a league of their own. Their professional conduct, both on-site and during planning communications was nothing but excellent.”
With the PA installation far exceeding Paul’s expectations, plans are already underway to work with AV2events on further projects: “Now we have a reliable partner to work with, I have the confidence to look at more ambitious ways of upgrading our AV facilities, and will definitely be doing this in collaboration with AV2events.”
AV kit installed
- 46 × Penton RCS8T two-way 8″ ceiling speakers
- 13 × Apart horns
- 1 × Apart OVO5T
- 14 × Apart OVO3T
- 2 × Cloud Z8ii eight-zone venue mixers
- 1 × Cloud MP240 mixer amplifier
- 8 × QSC 500Ti amplifiers
- 2 × QSC 300Ti amplifiers
- 1 × Cloud PM16 digital paging microphone
