Challenge
- Create a modern education facility with collaborative and interactive learning environments
- Ensure the facility supported current production requirements, with flexibility for future growth, expansion and the addition of new technologies.
Solution
- KMH designed and built studios, control rooms and presentation areas where students learn by using current professional-grade broadcast and production technologies
- A highlight of the building is one of the first end-to-end 4K-ready broadcast production studios and control rooms in higher education.
Results
KMH delivered a technologically advanced facility designed for faculty-student interaction and collaboration.
Several rooms are designed to integrate with the production studios, allowing an instructor or professor to monitor the program out of student projects, and display the content on half of a projection screen.
Facility-wide broadcast service panels allow for endless combinations of shooting locations, providing a great teaching tool while opening up the creative eye of students.
KMH Integration took on the role of lead systems integrator for the design, construction, and technology installation for Montclair State University’s new School of Communication and Media. The new facility opened its doors for the start of the 2017 fall semester, giving its students unique access to one of the most technologically advanced broadcast and media production facilities at any university in the nation.
“Having access to professional-grade products in a setting that closely mirrors the workplaces these students will soon enter helps Montclair State provide a more dynamic and fulfilling educational experience,” said Kevin Henneman, principal of KMH Integration. “This unique new facility will ensure students are prepared for their future careers in the communications and digital media industries. By working closely with university leadership, we’ve delivered the right combination of technology and collaboration needed for the future of education.”
Creating a Unique Learning Experience
A highlight of the building is the first end-to-end 4K-ready broadcast production studio and control room in higher education. Additional spaces include production facilities, screening rooms, theaters, and classrooms outfitted with 4K and HD professional technology, ranging from studio cameras, production switchers, and monitors to robotic cameras, laser, and digital cinema projectors.
Designed with the goal of providing a collaborative and interactive learning environment from the classroom to the field, the 105,000-square-foot facility features broadcast-ready newsrooms, high-tech multimedia labs, informal learning spaces, and team rooms. The new building’s capabilities span every aspect of contemporary communications and media: from film and digital production to online content creation and social media integration.
KMH Integration – An End-to-End Partner
KMH managed the overall project by working closely with the project management team from Sony Electronics, several specialized technology providers, architects, acousticians, MEP consultants, and a range of audio and video product manufacturers.
“The main goal was to ensure the facility supported current production requirements and also had a flexible infrastructure to accommodate future growth, expansion, and the addition of new technologies,” said Henneman.
The 4K studio and control room is modeled after professional motion picture and TV studios in use today. In the presentation hall, six robotic BRC-H900 cameras can be controlled from the mini-control room located in the back of the house, similar to the connectivity in any working presentation space.
A number of conference rooms, green rooms, and team rooms strategically located around the building are all integrated over the school’s Creston network, with certain select rooms able to control the core router.
Facility-wide broadcast service panels allow for endless combinations of shooting locations, providing a great teaching tool while opening up the creative eye of students to explore various projects and learn the challenges of lighting and communications when integrating multiple remote production locations.
Key Features of Montclair State’s New School of Communication and Media:
Broadcast-ready HD and 4K studio and control rooms boast the most extensive implementation of 4K technology at any North American university
Contemporary, broadcast-ready newsroom built to integrate media platforms
A 187-seat presentation hall powered by Sony Digital Cinema Projection and Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound
A 40-seat screening room powered by Sony Digital Cinema Projection and Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound
A motion picture stage
Interactive, collaborative learning spaces
Multimedia labs
Advanced audio suite featuring Foley stage, performance stage and audio sound labs
State-of-the-art radio control rooms
Inviting public spaces, as well as informal learning spaces and team rooms