Biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Bayer has unveiled the AV systems throughout its new Green Park headquarters, featuring Microflex products from Shure.
Working with MiX Consultancy and Focus 21 to create collaborative spaces, meeting rooms, and presentation suites at the heart of its four floors led to creating a number of versatile, flexible meeting spaces that had to be consistent, reliable, and easy to use.
A key part of the building is the main meeting space and town hall area. This large area is designed to be divisible into a number of rooms or opened into one space, creating a challenge when it comes to maintaining clear, intelligible audio.
To achieve this, the space was designed for audio conferencing and voice-lift from two Microflex Advance MXA910 ceiling array AV conferencing microphones and a Microflex wireless AV conferencing system.
The MXA910 ceiling array microphone features Steerable Coverage Technology, using up to eight separate lobes to accurately capture sound sources from above. Control software offers easy configuration of all parameters, including lobe steering, presets, and templates.
This combination ensures a simple solution that delivers audio while also being discreet and architecturally unobtrusive – ideal for corporate spaces. In addition, due to its location, the ceiling array encourages users to act and speak naturally, as they are not focused on a central microphone, contributing to improved conferencing, better internal communications, and increased productivity.
A key factor in the decision to choose products from the Shure Microflex family was that they are corporate network ready and can connect to networks and third-party control systems using standard protocols for remote management and campus-wide implementation.
Glynn Seymour, IT project lead for Bayer, explains: “The convergence of IT and AV is not a new trend but something of increasing significance for new builds and refurbishment. The Bayer UK headquarters move was part of a wider culture change to a more agile way of working and our new home had to reflect and support this, whilst adhering to corporate standards in many areas. We were challenged to create a variety of meeting spaces that were versatile but retained ease of use and bolstered the image of Bayer as an innovation-driven Life Science organisation.”
John Ellis, Shure Systems UK Regional Sales manager, says: “As one of our key partners, Focus 21 worked with the Shure Systems Group to specify audio solutions that deliver consistent clarity for meetings and presentations. The Shure AV Conferencing microphones provide Bayer with pristine sound quality with ease of use and flexibility.”
Justin Paveley, projects director at Focus 21, explains: “The reason why these were selected by the Mix team was because, at present, these are the best-performing microphones on the market, with extensive coverage of the space. Aesthetically, these are much more subtle than ceiling microphones and fitted the bill for the client.”
