Commercial AV Installations
Sound, screens, projection, control and integrated AV systems for commercial and public buildings.
We design, install and commission commercial audio visual systems across London, East Sussex, Kent, Surrey and the wider South East.
Projects range from a single meeting room or hall through to systems covering several rooms or a complete building. Our work includes sound, displays and projection, video distribution, control, AV networking and the infrastructure behind it.
We work directly with clients as well as architects, consultants and main contractors. Where the AV has already been specified, we can price and install against the drawings and documentation supplied. Where it has not, we can provide the AV design as part of our scope.
Commercial AV installation across London and the South East
We are based in East Sussex and carry out commercial AV installations across London, East Sussex, Kent, Surrey and the wider South East. We also travel further for larger projects.
Our work includes offices and meeting spaces, public buildings, schools and education, churches and heritage buildings, restaurants, hospitality venues and other commercial spaces.
The system is designed around how the building will be used. That might mean clear speech in a hall, presentation AV in a meeting room, multiple displays across a public building or zoned sound and video across a hospitality venue.
What a commercial AV installation can include
A commercial AV installation can bring together sound, commercial displays, projection, microphones, video conferencing, digital signage, zoned audio and system control. On larger projects, that can also include video distribution, equipment racks, dedicated AV networking, first-fix cabling and interfaces with lighting, hearing loops, PA and other building systems.
Some projects only need one of these elements. Others need several systems to work together across different rooms or areas of the building. We design the scope around how the building will actually be used rather than adding equipment that is not needed.
AV planned at design stage
For new builds and refurbishments, we are most useful before first fix.
We work from architects’ and consultants’ drawings to establish screen and projector positions, loudspeaker locations, equipment racks, power supplies, network points, containment, cable routes and control positions. We also consider ventilation around equipment and any interfaces with lighting, electrical and other building systems.
Getting this information onto the drawings early means the AV can be coordinated with ceilings, walls, joinery, lighting, ventilation and other services before installation starts. It also reduces the risk of additional containment, exposed cabling or changes to finished areas later in the project.
Where electrical work forms part of the same project, we can work alongside our sister company Lake Electrical.
What a commercial AV system can include
We design commercial sound systems around the room and what it needs to do.
Some spaces mainly need clear speech. Others need microphones, music, several audio zones or the flexibility to support different events.
We consider loudspeaker positions, coverage and the acoustics of the room before specifying the system. In spaces with a lot of hard surfaces and reverberation, increasing the volume can make speech less clear rather than improving it.
If there is already a sound system in the building, we check what can sensibly be retained before specifying replacement equipment.
We install commercial displays, projection systems and screens for meeting rooms, halls, public buildings, hospitality venues and other commercial spaces.
The right option depends on the size of the room, viewing distances, sightlines, ambient light and the type of content being shown.
This can range from a single commercial display through to multiple screens across different parts of a building or a large-format projection system for a hall or performance space.
Where the room is used for different purposes, retractable screens and concealed equipment can also be specified so the AV can be put away when it is not needed.
Larger buildings often need content distributed to several screens, loudspeakers or rooms.
We design the distribution around what each area needs to show or play. Some buildings need the same content everywhere, while others need different sources and independent control across several zones.
Input points are positioned where people will actually use them, with permanent equipment housed centrally where appropriate.
For longer cable runs or higher-bandwidth systems, fibre and network-based distribution can also form part of the design. The existing draft includes a real example at Hailsham Pavilion where floor-box HDMI inputs run over fibre to central processing, showing the type of system OBAV works with.
A technically capable system should still be straightforward to operate.
We programme the everyday controls around the people using the building, keeping normal functions separate from the technical settings used for commissioning and maintenance.
For most users, that may simply mean selecting a source, switching on a screen, adjusting the volume or choosing a room setting.
Larger installations can provide different levels of control for different rooms or users, while keeping the more detailed system settings available to technical staff.
Many modern AV systems rely on network infrastructure for audio, video, control and remote support.
Where required, we provide a dedicated AV network with fixed IP addressing rather than relying entirely on the building’s general IT network.
Network switches, equipment racks, network points and cable routes are considered alongside the rest of the AV design. Keeping this infrastructure organised also makes future maintenance, changes and fault finding easier, particularly if the building’s main IT arrangements change over time.
A new project does not always mean replacing everything already installed.
We survey the existing equipment, cabling, amplifiers, displays, loudspeakers, control systems and network infrastructure before deciding what should stay.
Sometimes the equipment itself is still suitable and the problem sits elsewhere in the system. In other cases, one part of the installation may need replacing while the rest can remain.
We can also extend AV into another room or part of a building without replacing the complete system, provided the existing control, cabling and network can support it.
Working with architects, consultants and main contractors
A large part of our commercial AV work is delivered as part of a wider construction or refurbishment project.
Where an AV consultant has already produced a specification, we can price and install against the drawings, equipment schedules and technical information supplied. Where the AV has not yet been designed, we can develop the system ourselves and provide the information needed by the wider project team.
That can include design development, equipment and cable schedules, marked-up drawings, first-fix requirements, power and network information and details of any interfaces with other systems. We then stay involved through installation, programming, commissioning, testing, training and handover.
Our role is to identify anything that needs resolving while it can still be changed on the drawings, rather than discovering it once the building is already at second fix.
Sound, lighting and AV together
Some projects need sound, visual systems and lighting within the same room.
OBAV also designs and installs venue lighting, so these systems can be planned together where required.
This is particularly useful in halls, theatres, hospitality venues and other spaces where loudspeakers, displays, projectors and lighting fixtures all need to use the same ceiling, truss or containment.
If the room itself is affecting speech clarity or sound quality, we can also look at acoustic treatment as part of the project.
Hearing loops alongside AV
Where a hearing loop is required as part of a wider AV installation, we can design, install, test and commission it alongside the rest of the system.
This means microphone feeds, equipment positions, cabling and control can all be considered at the same stage.
We can also test existing hearing loop systems where there is uncertainty about their coverage or performance.
PA and voice alarm systems
Public address and voice alarm systems need to be considered separately from general AV, particularly where a system forms part of the building’s fire strategy.
We design and install PA and voice alarm systems as a specialist service.
Where general AV, paging and voice alarm systems are required on the same project, we make sure the interfaces between them are considered at design stage rather than left until installation.
Installation and commissioning
Our engineers carry out the installation and stay on it through commissioning.
Sound systems get set up in the rooms where they will be used. Screens, sources and control are checked together rather than one at a time, because that is how the faults show up.
Networked equipment is configured and the controls are programmed before handover. Where a project includes measured performance, such as hearing loop or speech intelligibility testing, that is done as part of commissioning rather than promised afterwards.
Then we show the people who will use the system how the everyday controls work.
Support after handover
We continue to support the systems we install.
Commercial AV changes over time. New equipment gets added, a room starts being used differently or another part of the building needs connecting.
Our engineers are employed by OBAV rather than subcontracted, so the company supporting the system is the company that installed it.
Where suitable remote access is available, some checks and changes can also be carried out without arranging a site visit.
Experienced commercial AV installers
We design and install commercial AV systems for public buildings, schools, churches, hospitality venues and other commercial environments.
Our team works on new installations as well as upgrades to existing systems, from individual rooms through to multi-room and whole-building AV.
We are used to working from architects’ drawings, consultant specifications and main contractor programmes. Where possible, we get involved before first fix so AV requirements can be coordinated with the electrical installation, IT, lighting, ventilation and other services.
OBAV is SafeContractor approved and ISO [[NUMBER: exact ISO standard to confirm]] accredited. Our engineers are employed by OBAV and carry out the installation and commissioning themselves.
Where we install commercial AV
We install commercial AV systems across a range of buildings, with the design changing according to how each one is used.
In public buildings, that can include sound, displays, conferencing, hearing assistance and AV for halls, chambers and other public areas.
Our schools and education work includes classrooms, halls and performance spaces, where systems may need to support teaching, assemblies, presentations and events.
In churches and heritage buildings, acoustics, sightlines, existing fabric and permissions all need to be considered alongside the equipment itself.
For restaurants and hospitality, the work often includes zoned audio, displays and straightforward controls that staff can use during service. Bars and nightclubs can involve professional sound, visual systems and venue lighting designed together.
For high-end residential projects, our home cinema and residential AV service covers cinema rooms, media rooms and integrated home audio.
Commercial AV projects
Accreditations
OBAV is SafeContractor approved and certified to ISO [[NUMBER: exact ISO standard to confirm]].
Copies of our certificates are available on request.
[[NUMBER: SafeContractor registration number, the ISO standard, certificate number and certification body]]
OBAV is the trading name of Old Barn Audio Ltd, company number 06040735.
The engineers carrying out our installations are employed by OBAV rather than subcontracted.
What clients say
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Commercial AV questions
Can you work from a specification somebody else has written?
Yes. Sometimes the AV has already been fully specified by the time it reaches us, and in that case we price and install against the drawings and documentation supplied. On other projects we are brought in earlier and provide the AV design ourselves. We are comfortable with both.
When should you be involved on a new build or refurbishment?
AV is easier to install when it has been considered before first fix. Working from the project drawings, we can give the wider team the information needed for the AV, including screen and projector positions, loudspeaker positions, equipment rack locations, power requirements, network points, containment, cable routes, control positions and interfaces with other systems. Agreeing these early reduces the amount of work that has to be changed later.
Do we have to replace the system we already have?
Replacement is not always the starting point. A building may already have useful screens, speakers, cabling, amplifiers or network infrastructure, and we look at what is there and how well it is working before deciding what should remain. If existing equipment can sensibly form part of the new installation, we will use it.
Can you add AV to one part of the building rather than all of it?
Yes. Before adding to what is already there we check whether the existing equipment has enough capacity and whether the older and newer parts can work together properly, which includes the control system, network and cabling as well as the visible equipment. If extending the existing system is practical, there is no reason to replace it just to make everything new.
Will our staff be able to operate it?
Complicated equipment does not need complicated controls. We keep the day-to-day functions separate from the technical settings used to set the system up, so a member of staff may only need to select a source, turn a screen on, change the volume or choose a particular room setting, without opening an equipment rack or calling somebody who understands AV.
Do you install a separate network for the AV?
Where the project requires it, yes, with fixed IP addressing. Network points, switches, equipment racks and cable routes are best dealt with while the rest of the system is being designed. Keeping the AV infrastructure properly organised also makes it easier to support later, especially where the building’s general IT arrangements change over time.
Is a paging system the same as a voice alarm?
No, and the two need to be kept clearly separated. A building may have a normal sound or paging system alongside a voice alarm system, but a voice alarm has to be designed around the building’s fire strategy and the relevant standards. Where both are part of the same project, we make sure the interfaces between them are considered in the design.
Do you test hearing loops that are already installed?
Yes. Existing loops can be tested if there is already one in the building but nobody is sure how well it is performing. Our hearing loop work covers design, installation, testing and certification.
What happens after handover?
Our engineers are employed by OBAV rather than subcontracted, so the company supporting the system is the same company that installed it. On systems with suitable remote access, some checks and changes can be made without arranging a site visit, and if a visit is needed we already have the background on the installation.
Talk to us about your commercial AV project
If you are planning a commercial AV installation, refurbishment or upgrade, get in touch and tell us about the building and what the system needs to do.
If drawings or an AV specification already exist, send them through and we can review them as part of the enquiry.
Old Barn Audio Ltd
Unit 15 Wylands Farm
Powdermill Lane
Battle
East Sussex TN33 0SU
01892 752246
enquiries@oldbarnaudio.co.uk
We work across London, East Sussex, Kent, Surrey and the wider South East.