Great Fosters Coach House
Steeped in history, Great Fosters hotel and conference centre is a fabulous venue for any occasion. Having changed hands and function many times through the last few centuries its current owners have been faithfully restoring the natural historic beauty of the site.
In 2007 Keiba Solutions were approached to help transform the Coach House building into a more modern yet historically sensitive facility. Featuring 11 guest bedrooms, 3 conference rooms, a conference lounge and private courtyard the renovation of this Grade I listed building was to be a magnificent success.
Our scope was broad yet encompassed some real challenges. The look and feel of the building would be one of the key factors in its success. With modern heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and access control the potential for the wall controls and accessories to bring down the overall feel was a major concern.
For the room controls we were tasked with creating a consistent solution which also provided a simple user experience. To further constrain us, the heating and cooling solution had already been specified and the access control points also had to fit in to ensure the doors maintained a traditional look and feel.
With the room controls providing one significant challenge, we were also tasked with making the conference rooms something special. With a blank canvas, the constraints of a renovation, tight timelines and high client expectations the pressure was mounting. The conference rooms had to be adaptable for meetings and events, deliver crisp sound and vision and live up to the style and decor of the rest of the building.
The first challenge for the conference rooms was the lighting. With different ceiling heights, multi-purpose layouts, energy efficiency and emergency lighting to consider we decided to produce 3D models of the rooms to provide concepts and required light level calculations. To help keep running costs down, the latest in LED technology was selected to provide much of the functional lighting. With a lighting control solution to provide various scenes and simplified control, the overall package is seamless.
Lighting was only the beginning of the conference room facilities however. Providing the latest in audio-visual solutions for PC, Blu-Ray and other services was also required along with an integrated control system.
The overall solution has been a huge success. We were able to provide consistent, integrated technology platforms throughout the whole building and provide a basis for future expansion. From custom made wall controls integrating the aesthetics to the unification of multiple systems at the back-end to provide a consistent experience.
www.greatfosters.co.uk