Pure AV wins European innovation award

Audio visual integrator Pure AV has scooped an award for most ‘Innovative Education Project’ at the 2014 InAVation Awards for work at Edge Hill University’s £17m Creative Edge building.

The AV industry awards bring together manufacturers, integrators and project managers from across Europe to honour the best and most creative projects, with accolades given for work in sectors including education, leisure, retail and public sector.

Peter Sutton, managing director of Pure AV, said: “We were up against organisations from across Europe, and as the only UK finalists in our category we are delighted to bring the award back to the UK, it is a positive reflection on 10 years of experience in the Higher Education sector and demonstrates how forward thinking institutions like Edge Hill are leading the way both at home and abroad.”

The win celebrates Pure AV’s installation at Edge Hill University’s flagship Creative Edge building. Opened in September 2013, the building houses teaching and research in media, film, animation, advertising, computing and music.

Mark Allinson, director of information technology at Edge Hill said: “In an environment where innovative teaching is fundamental, we wanted technology solutions that were reliable, easy to use and that inspired the imagination of students. Working with the team at Pure AV we were able to draw from their experience in the university sector to help us deliver an outstanding facility for teaching, research and industry collaboration.”

Donald Moffatt, media technology development manager at Edge Hill added: “Everyone who walks into the building gets the wow factorand then they get to realise it is wow factor with a purpose - to allow media and computing students to really push their ideas and showcase their activities. Pure has done a great job and created a solution in keeping with the creative ethos of our centre here at Creative Edge, I am really pleased that they have received this award.”

The project itself required the creation of an audio-visual environment to allow students to learn, create, develop and showcase their work. This involved a high-specification lecture theatre with digital cinema facility, 27 seminar rooms with a mix of projection and display devices, fitting out IT suites and creative ‘break-out’ spaces, installing digital signage and IP-TV across the campus and the installation of a feature video wall in the impressive three-storey atrium area.

The judges were particularly impressed with the way that Pure AV and the University worked in partnership to build on the initial brief and in the ‘random’ canvas video wall feature, deliver something quite unique yet totally in keeping with the needs of the ultimate users of the technology and its environment.

The wall has certainly captured the imagination of the students at Edge Hill. Made up of 20 mixed-size large format screens mounted in differing orientations and arranged to provide a large central canvas surrounded by smaller break away displays, users can chose to create one large image or display different content on the individual screens.

Peter Sutton, managing director at Pure AV, said: “We have just celebrated our 10th anniversary, so to receive this award is fantastic; we work extremely hard to deliver unique, creative solutions for our customers and to be recognised on a European platform is extremely exciting for us, I am immensely proud of the team and what they achieved on this project.” This is not the first InAVate award for Pure AV which previously picked up the award for Most Innovative Corporate Project and Project Manager of the Year at the 2011 InAVate awards for work carried out at the Manchester head office of PZ Cussons.