The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has installed a Roland XS-84H multi-format matrix switcher at the heart of the presentation system for Jarvis Hall at its London headquarters. The unit was selected as it was the only matrix that was able to meet all of the complex requirements presented by the listed building.

Described as “the home of architecture”, RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in central London is a masterpiece of art-deco style. From the brass doors and motifs of its exterior, to the wood-panelled and leather-lined meeting spaces inside, the whole building is a blend of beautiful yet functional design. This was recognised in the 1970s when the building was given Grade II Listed status, the second highest category of building protection in England.

While this listed status helps to preserve the building for generations to come, it also provides challenges for the current audiovisual team as they look to balance the requirements of maintaining the building’s original features while also delivering a modern AV environment for the people using its facilities.

“We have to make sure we meet our obligations as keepers of a listed building, and this makes cable runs and where we position our equipment a real challenge,” explained Steve Barrett-White, AV Technical Manager at RIBA.

Despite these challenges, RIBA needs to ensure that it keeps its technology up-to-date to remain competitive in London’s busy events market. As such, projects such as the recent upgrade of Jarvis Hall’s AV systems are key to its ongoing success.

Originally created as a lecture and examination space, the 400-capacity venue now hosts a variety of events from product launches and film screenings to weddings and conferences on a daily basis. It’s split room design and multiple configuration options mean that any solution being added to the technical setup needs to be flexible enough to cope with every eventuality.

“We have a peculiar number of inputs and outputs because of the layout of a listed building,” noted Barrett-White. “We had six or eight manufacturers come in for evaluation and we looked at a number of different units but the only one that came up to the criteria set by both myself and my team was the Roland XS-84H switcher.

“We’ve gone for a matrix switcher because we needed multiple inputs,” he continued. “We use both Macs and PCs and therefore we have to have the ability to quickly switch between the two. Plus, because we’ve gone for 7.1 surround sound, we also needed a switcher that would allow us to create the environment for that particular scenario.”

“What the Roland XS-84H matrix switcher allows us to do is send to four different outputs,” added Gabriel Thorp, Senior AV Technician at RIBA. “We have preview screens on the stage which have their independent send, we also have the main out to our projector and the others are almost like aux’s out, so we can use one for a camera crew or a streaming group and then the other could be to a recording. If we’re using IMAG for instance from a camera filming the person on the lectern, we could have that, or picture-in-picture. It really opens up the capabilities for what we can do in the Jarvis Hall.”

With the switcher in daily use for both in-house staff and freelancers alike, Barrett-White is happy with the decision to invest in Roland. “Everybody that has been in has been able to take a look at it and use it within five or 10 minutes,” he revealed. “In addition to the XS-84H, we also have three separate smaller units that we use for streaming, podcasting and to control two of our other rooms so we are completely happy with Roland as a brand. We have just opened a new outlet in Liverpool, and we will be putting Roland equipment into that as well.”

“I think it was a good choice to have that as part of the kit in here,” agreed Thorp. “It’s very useful and it’s a tool that now that we have it, I can’t imagine how we did it without it before.”