Cabinet Chamber of Namibia
High-tech audio for a heritage building: TeamConnect Ceiling 2 ensures great speech intelligibility in Namibia’s Office of the Prime Minister
The client
Gadgets Namibia Solutions is a 100% Namibian owned, leading innovative ICT products and service provider, founded in 2010.
The challenge
In the Cabinet Chamber of Namibia’s Office of the Prime Minister, the installation of ceiling microphones was challenging for the upper gallery of the two-level room as the boundary microphones of the lower floor created interference. As Gadgets Namibia Solutions had to install the ceiling microphones in a heritage building, they were limited regarding modification and civil works as they were requested to preserve the heritage of the room by incorporating AV technology.
The solution
In cooperation with Stage Audio Works Namibia and Sennheiser South Africa, Gadgets Namibia Solutions decided on suspended mounting of two units of TeamConnect Ceiling 2 for the upper level of the Cabinet Chamber.
“We were working in a listed building with a very clear brief to preserve the historic interior finishes, so we had to find clever ways to install our equipment to ensure that it blended in with the minimum amount of disruption to the surroundings.”
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) is at the apex of the system of government in the Republic of Namibia. A historical building in the Namibian capital of Windhoek, OPM houses the first Cabinet Chamber and the Constitution Room, in which most of the country’s legislatures were drafted. The government decided to augment the Cabinet Chamber with a sophisticated sound reinforcement and visual display system to improve the meeting experience. Gadgets Namibia were asked to source an appropriate solution, which they did through Stage Audio Works Namibia.
As the project team was required to implement a solution while still preserving the historic interior finishes of the hall, a standard design was not going to work in the OPM. A ceiling microphone turned out to be the most effective and discrete solution for the upper gallery. The project team had considered alternative solutions, but due to the aesthetic appeal, ease of integration, and its digital operation using Dante technology, TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2) proved to be the most effective option to provide impeccable speech intelligibility for the upper gallery of the two-level room. “We needed innovative, out of the box thinking, and that was when we decided on the TCC2. With its easy installation process, TruVoicelift and great speech intelligibility, TCC2 allowed us to achieve automatic overall noise reduction, providing the most ideal solution for this challenging installation.”, says Victor Nzaramba, CEO of Gadgets Namibia Solutions.
The ceiling mics patented automatic beamforming technology was another major decisive factor for choosing TCC2. “We required a flexible system that would pick up speech from either ends of the hall with ease, and with its automatic beamforming technology, TCC2 accomplished just that”, says Victor Nzaramba whose company already had experience with Sennheiser’s business portfolio, as they already had installed Sennheiser products like EW 100 and EW 500 before and quoted them in several projects before. The CEO is pleased with the results of the installation: “Stage Audio Works have delivered an impeccable solution. They designed customised solutions where required that respect the elegance and heritage of the room whilst bringing OPM’s Cabinet Chamber into line with modern technical conferencing standards. The Prime Minister and her cabinet can now enjoy the comfort of crystal-clear audio and high-quality video throughout the room with easy, fingertip control.”
Learn more about TCC2 and the voice lift system TruVoicelift!
