Western Sydney University envisioned a new (AUD) campus in the geographic heart of Sydney, Australia.
The university’s first ever ‘vertical’ campus resides in the Parramatta City Precinct of Sydney. A curved LED display from NanoLumens greets all of the students as they enter the building.
The University’s new vertical campus serves as the technological epicenter of a bigger (AUD) $2-billion Parramatta Square urban redevelopment program that will, once completed, showcase smart city technology and provide a benchmark for future development in Parramatta City. Thousands of students now pass through the $220 million 285,224 square foot, 14-story vertical campus each day.
Kerry Holling, WSU chief of information, and the digital officer said, “The campus is a hub of interactive personalized and networked technologies that are designed to enhance every aspect of the learning experience. It was only fitting then that the building’s main lobby feature an information display that is as compelling as the technologies featured throughout the rest of the building.”
The consultants at Digital Place Solutions were contracted to take on the challenge of keeping all of the students informed and engaged with campus news and events. Digital Place Solutions chose NanoLumens a maker and marketer of LED visualization solutions to supply just the right solution to meet the challenge.
The result of Digital Place Solutions collaboration with NanoLumens is a ‘true curved’ 4.7mm pixel pitch LED display. The specially built device sits directly behind the campus’s information desk and wraps around a curved central wall in the new campus hub, according to Managing Director Stephen Rubie.
NanoLumens worked with the architects and Digital Place Solutions to make the display that the architect first envisioned.
The architects wanted an installation that would showcase dynamic image and perfectly and seamlessly curve to match the curve of the wall. Uniquely, the LED display curves past 90-degrees into an acute angle. NanoLumens boasts that the colorimetry and off-axis viewing and of its custom-made, curved display makes it extraordinary.
“Interestingly, at first the idea for the information area did not include a display because the architect didn’t think it was possible to find a true curved display that would work well within the overall design of the space,” Rubie stated. “When we showed them the performance of the true curved NanoLumens display they knew they had to incorporate it into the design of the space. In fact, the display made the space!”
The architects saw another compelling benefit of the display design. The entire curved display could be installed without the needing to change the wall upon which it would be mounted.
The 25-foot by 5-foot (7.5m X 1.5m) video wall wraps around a very tight radius. At 749 pounds (350 Kg), the device measures a mere 4-inches thick (100mm) and requires just two 15amp circuits for power.
“The entire installation only took three days to complete,” Rubie said. “And because the display generates so little heat, there was no need to install fans or special ventilation. In fact, people sit all day directly in front of the display.”
