Overview: Paepcke Auditorium is the largest conference venue on the Aspen Meadows campus, home to the world renowned Aspen Institute. The building was in need of a total renovation to include new auditorium seating to expand capacity. This was a design/build project completed with Shaw Construction in 2010. This project is the latest of several projects Digital Roads has completed at the Institute located on 40 acres in downtown Aspen, Colorado.
The facility renovation was extensive to include removal of the roof and expansion of the auditorium seating capacity. The technology to include all the audio and video systems in the building was outdated and unreliable. The venue is used for a wide variety of purposes. Hosted events include but are not limited to panel discussion, educational presentation, movies, theatrical and live music performances. Due to the high profile nature of the guests and events the press required digital access to the house video and audio systems.
An extensive surround sound audio system utilizing all Harmon Pro equipment is at the core of this project. The sound system is a multi-zone system allowing audio to be routed to the lobby and two outdoor areas for overflow situations. The design allows for maximum flexibility to meet the varied needs of the space. The audio system allows Institute personnel to mix audio manually using a Yamaha mixing board or automatically using the BiAmp digital signal processing. Presets for each room function make the system easy to operate. Given the multi-function uses for the auditorium, we also designed the presentation system to support 4:3 video, 16:9 video and professional digital 3D theater video. Microphones were many both wired and wireless. The entire system is controlled using an AMX Netlinx control system with several touch screen interfaces and web access. Lighting presets are also integrated into the venue control based on the room functions that are selected. The historic library meeting space was updated with a large flat screen monitor to support presentations and overflow video from the auditorium.