Studio Shifts: Building the Future of Broadcast & Media Spaces
Have you ever thought about where all your favorite podcasters record? Join Kiera Brady, Structure Tone New York Project Manager, Scott Corneby, Structure Tone New York Executive Vice President, Michael Farrell, Structure Tone New Jersey Regional Vice President, and James Dunn, Pavarini North East Project Manager, as they discuss what goes into constructing broadcast and media spaces—and how our approach as builders is evolving with the advancement of technology.
HOST
Kiera Brady
Project Manager, Structure Tone New YorkView Bio
GUEST
Scott Corneby
Executive Vice President, Structure Tone New YorkView Bio
GUEST
Michael Farrell
Regional Vice President, Structure Tone New JerseyView Bio
GUEST
James Dunn
Project Manager, Pavarini North EastView Bio
Kiera Brady (00:00):
Hello and welcome to Building Conversations. I’m your host, Kiera Brady, Project Manager at Structure Tone New York. In today’s episode, we’re diving into one of the industry’s most dynamic sectors: Broadcast and Media. Joining me today are Structure Tone New York’s Executive Vice President, Scott Corneby; Pavarini Northeast Project Manager, Jamie Dunn; and Structure Tone New Jersey’s Regional Vice President Michael Farrell: experts with the years of experience delivering projects for some of the biggest names in media. Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to introduce ourselves and share a bit about our roles and backgrounds. Mike, if you want to start?
Mike Farrell (0:36):
Sure. Thanks, Kiera. My name is Mike Farrell. I’m the Regional Vice President with Structure Tone New Jersey. I am entering my 25th year with the company. I’ve had various roles with the company from an assistant superintendent to estimating to a project executive. And then in the last few years, part of the senior management team of New Jersey, where I now lead the business unit. Our business in New Jersey is very diversified. We’ve got work in sectors of mission critical corporate interiors, life sciences, industrial, as well as a bit of higher education. Of course, healthcare is an emerging sector for us as the studios and broadcast, and it’s really exciting to be here today to speak more about it.
Kiera Brady (01:19):
Jamie.
James Dunn (01:21):
My name is Jamie Dunn. I am a senior project manager with the Pavarini Northeast Company. I started with the company back in 1997, and over the span of my career, I’ve had the opportunity to build large-scale corporate headquarters projects, mission-critical projects, and most recently spent a lot of time in the media studio, broadcast sector.
Kiera Brady (01:44):
Great, Scott?
Scott Corneby (01:45):
Good morning, all. I’m Scott Corneby with the New York office. I’m nearing my 40th year with the firm this coming July. My current role is Executive Vice President and handle a lot of our larger key accounts. Came up through the ranks as a young super back in 1985. Went on to become a project manager, helped run the department and then eventually ran our New York operations for some 15 years or so. And for the last eight or 10 years, has been in the executive role on, like I said, some of our key accounts and many of them, which were broadcast and media type projects.
Kiera Brady (02:22):
Great. So, we’ll start with just, you know, setting the scene. Could you start by giving us an overview of what makes building in the broadcast and media sector so unique? Mike, if you want to take this one.
Mike Farrell (02:32):
Sure. Happy to. These projects are, can be very complex. They’ve got a lot of special elements. Although there’s a lot of uniqueness to the projects in this, in this sector, there’s also a lot of similarities to a lot of our core businesses, as you heard from our mission-critical data center work and infrastructure projects that we’ve done. But specific to the, the broadcast studios, there’s obviously different elements. The studio design and the broadcast studios are really specific in terms of the acoustic requirements that they need. They need to minimize sound interference and optimize audio quality. So, these projects will have very specific soundproofing materials that you’ll hear from the team a little bit later when we get into some of the details. The room dimensions matter, specifics on where cameras and microphones can be located are obviously very important to these kinds of projects.
Mike Farrell (03:24):
They often have control rooms, and those control rooms are designed with advanced technologies where they’re going to accommodate large screens to monitor the productions as well as complex audio and video equipment. So, there’s a lot of planning that goes on, a lot of coordinating with cable management on these projects. Again, some similarities to a lot of our mission-critical work, but unique to their specifics as well. Lighting is obviously a big focus on these projects. There’s a lot of specifics for lighting. You’ve got to have proper lighting for the broadcasting, as you can imagine. They’ve got to be adjustable. You have got to have the best visual quality at the end for the, for the production. Often these projects also have to have very flexible spaces. They’ve got to be very adaptable for different types of productions, whether it’s broadcast or live events.
Mike Farrell (04:14):
So that those are unique elements that come out from design that we see and, and, and we work towards. Oftentimes there could be module walls that are part of these spaces or, you know, movable walls, modular furniture. I mentioned cable management and, and of course we’ll talk a little bit more later on. Really how the latest technology infrastructure has to be integrated into these projects, whether it be high-speed internet, advanced broadcasting equipment and of course, reliable power and often redundant sources of power because these, these productions cannot go down, especially if you’re in a live environment. You can imagine you’ve got to have reliable power and redundant backup power in case there’s an issue there.
Kiera Brady (04:58):
Great. So, this one will be for Scott and Jamie. What are some common challenges you face when working on broadcast media projects compared to other sectors we have worked in?
Scott Corneby (05:10):
So, I go first, Jamie? So, I believe some of the common challenges I’ve seen on, on several of the jobs we’ve done, and they can be many, and they can be varied, of course, as Jamie would know for sure. First off, you need to try and corral and establish all the broadcast decisions early on. It’s a challenge, but you need to get the end users involved to help facilitate the decisions on the design so that the final set of construction documents that come out, we will be building what they are anticipating six, nine months down the road. You know, again, all trying to reduce that surprise element at the end. Getting everyone involved early to pay extra attention to the early above ceiling coordination. You know, many of these studio ceilings, as you guys are aware, the insulation sheetrock thirty feet in the air, two or three different layers.
Scott Corneby (06:01):
It’s really important to get everything right from the beginning and get the, and it’s critical. Get that part of the project done on time with good QAQC, obviously, you know, towards vibration. Any issues up there in terms of access to equipment, going back to those ceilings later on is a real challenge. So, getting that right and paying extra attention to that early, you know, is definitely a challenge. And the concern, I think, getting all the parties to agree on how to future proof these rooms something is also that we’ve seen on a lot of them. Do add extra sleeves. Do we add extra conduits? Cable runs, cable trays. Again, giving them the ability in the future if somebody needs to make a late change or add them to the project, there’s a way to get back in and out of some of these rooms. I think another common challenge we’ve seen for both us and our clients, and this is a tricky one: is getting the final TV and broadcast set people involved early. And I know that’s a challenge for our clients. We’re trying to build the job. They’re trying to wait till the last possible minute to design what set they want. They want it to be cutting-edge and look, they want it to be cutting-edge in technology, yet at the end of the day, when we turn over shell, whatever their set’s going to be, it needs to be able to fit in there and all work together. So, I think those are some of the real key count challenges, you know, and, and then maybe lastly the need for the end user and the commissioning agents or the commissioning engineers to establish the testing, the commissioning requirements early so that there’s adequate time built into the schedule for acoustical testing and, and final commissioning. I think those are a lot of the key challenges we’ve seen on some of the New York projects.
James Dunn (07:44):
And I would agree, Scott. Kind of expanding a little bit on the engagement, the early engagement of the end users it’s a critical time in any project, really. Because in the end, when you turn over a project, you want the people who will populate and use it to enjoy it and find it useful and productive. But in the media broadcast construction sector, that end use is so key because, like Scott touched on before, even in the span of building a project, the technology evolves—the way they’re going to broadcast, the way they’re going to produce.
So, that the end user and those operators, bringing them literally into those construction meetings and pre-con meetings early and about understanding not only their needs but, more importantly, their timelines.
James Dunn (08:42):
Unlike a lot of projects we build where you simply turn it over to a user, and they go into an office, this is essentially a big garage or toolset area that they’ll work in. In order for them to not only set up but also test, prove, and make sure they’re broadcast-ready, it’s a long period of time and you really need to bring those folks into the build process early so they understand what it takes to reach the point of turnover and can look down the road at the timeline.
One of the other big challenges we’ve encountered—certainly in the Stamford market scene—and we’re going to get into that a little bit later—is structural concerns. Because these studios not only need to be isolated from the rest of the building but also accommodate lighting, like Mike spoke about before, as well as whatever will be part of the shot inside the studio. The structural design is key, and all those things—whether structural, end use, cable paths, or accessibility—need to be considered during the early design phase and working that team from the beginning to turnover is key. So that’s certainly what we’d like to cover.
Kiera Brady (10:09):
Great. Yeah, and to your point with the turnover and then being a working partner with them, because we know, like, when the set comes in, the amount of adjustments you have to make, you have to drop sprinkler heads. Adjust to their set once we turn over that box to them.
James Dunn (10:22):
You know, and, and Scott said it before, the flexibility Yeah. Of the space. You know, you don’t want to call it a vanilla box construction, you know, like we know in the industry where you would come in and fit it out. But essentially these studios, at least many of them, are set up that way so that when they come in to do the shot, to do that, to make that product, they can set it up however they want. Mm-Hmm. So that, that’s, that’s a tricky part of the construction.
Mike Farrell (10:47):
Certainly, and you mentioned on the, the structural components, especially on, on larger sound stage spaces, you that’s a key element to have, you know, clear spans, very high ceilings, no columns. Because line of sight is very important. And obviously large equipment building sets are part of it. You know, we’ve also seen the large elephant doors between stages that that are unique to these types of projects that require quite a lot of structural considerations on these projects as well.
Kiera Brady 1 (11:15):
Great. So, keeping Scott and Jamie in the hot seat. So, we’ve had some pretty unique projects from a podcast studio at Apple to a CNN TV studio and everything in between. Can you share some details about one or two high profile broadcast or media projects that you’ve worked on, and what has made these projects stand out?
Scott Corneby (11:36):
So I think what we do for a living, all projects have a unique element and have some standout point too, but especially on these projects, for me anyway, the planning, the intense scheduling and the understanding of the technology and the requirements that are be needed at the end seem to jump out at me. You know, some of the recent projects we’ve done in New York that come to mind are very complex headquarter projects in brand new buildings, a little different than maybe some of the activity you guys have had in your regions. And they all brought in various entities, meaning there were several companies underneath the, the common platform. All of these needing, obviously a new computer room to run them becomes the heartbeat of the broadcast facility, whether it’s a computer room, a technical gear room, a critical equipment room, whatever the client’s acronym is for that room, that becomes the most important room on the project, quite frankly.
Scott Corneby (12:27):
And then along with that, obviously, is MDF rooms, TR closets, which run north and south in a building and for redundancy, but really understanding beside those, the mechanical infrastructure, the electrical, and the low voltage infrastructure. All it is to provide ultimately at the end, the broadcast and communication needs that they will truly require. You know, a lot of these broadcast media projects that we’ve all done, they have extensive quantities of studios, control rooms, edit rooms, voiceover rooms. Again, they have their, all their own acronyms, but these take extensive coordination so that what we build is what the broadcast integrator truly wants when they show up months down the road with their consoles, with their equipment. Is the room the right size? Is the electric in the right position? Is the low bolt that’s feeding the consoles from the right position again, setting it up so that they have time to build, set up, do their testing, commissioning.
Scott Corneby (13:25):
I think all of these broadcast type rooms, you know, require early turnover. And that’s, that’s part of the, the scheduling thing. Often, we turn those rooms over six, nine months, even a year in advance. I think for, you mentioned CNN, I think we turned over those areas a year in advance, but again, the idea is to give the integrated time to build test commission and eventually for the end user and, and the talent to have a chance to rehearse before they all go live. So, I think those are a lot of things that stand out on these types of projects a little different than our, you know, typical corporate fit out.
James Dunn (13:59):
So, you know, in the Connecticut market, you know, we’ve had the opportunity to build some very high-profile studio space. And I think, you know, when I think about the projects and what really stands out about them you know, each one of these facilities was in an occupied facility. So, you know, if you can imagine, you know, doing, you know, this extravagant, you know, technical space within an occupied building you know, with other tenants you know, that brings on all kinds of unique challenges, you know, which we’re typically used to because we always, you know, do construction within, you know, multi-tenant facilities, but because of the requirements, the structural requirements, the segregation of the utilities you know, what, what needs to be done in order to prep yourself to begin to build that space. That’s where, you know, that, that, that’s one big thing that stands out to me.
James Dunn (14:54):
You know, with these projects you know, you touched on before the you know, the, the central equipment room, CER, you know, they have all different acronyms for, you know, for this, for this you know, this setup of, essentially it’s the heart, you know, of the media broadcast, you know, you know, technology. And you know, in each of these projects that we have done you have that entity. And I like to, you know, I like to compare it to a normal TELEDATA and IT infrastructure, however, it runs side by side to it, and it has very, you know, very similar distribution. So as you would plan a project like that where you’re coming from that central equipment room and you’re branching out to all the different floors to the IDF closets, you know, and the technology, or in our case, the tech nest, the media, you know, thing you know, that, that, that whole, you know, that that whole skeleton that you build that’s now going to ho house all of the media cabling is very unique.
James Dunn (15:56):
And it’s you know, it takes a lot of planning. You know, that’s certainly something that that stands out on all of all of, you know, the broadcast style projects that we’ve done. It’s the planning ahead of time that we touched on before. You know, and then ultimately you know, these spaces require an extensive QA/QC program. And it’s, you know, it’s not just the paint on the wall and how the base or the door jam, you know, hangs it’s the acoustics of the room. And, you know, in at least the, the projects that we’ve been involved in, we were, you know, we were fortunate enough to be to have a design firm that designed the acoustics specifically. And then, you know, married that together with the architectural design and the drawings that they provided were incredibly detailed. They almost looked like millwork drawings. But to that point, the detail that’s required in order to build that space out, so ultimately the sound is proper in these rooms. You know, no sound entering, no sound leaving requires a very extensive program right from the first piece of, you know, the first line that snapped on the floor to the last piece of sound acoustic insulation. But I think, you know, those are, those are things that really stand out, you know, in those projects that we worked with.
Kiera Brady (17:12):
Mike, this one’s for you. How critical is technological integration in the construction of modern broadcast and media facilities?
Mike Farrell (17:22):
Well, technological integration is absolutely critical in these types of spaces. And just hearing from Scott and Jamie now it’s evident on all the projects that we’ve been building that these elements exist. And it’s really a reflection and learning a little bit more about what our clients are up against, what they’re doing in their daily business that ultimately shows up on the plans and in the projects that we’re building. So, you know, modern broadcasting relies heavily on advanced technologies like high-definition video, multiple camera setups, and then live streaming. So, all of which require a lot of infrastructure that you just heard from, from both the guys on. And you’ve got to really understand and plan for those, those systems in our projects. Future proofing, you’ve heard that a couple times already in our conversation today. It’s really important that the infrastructure is flexible for these projects.
Mike Farrell (18:15):
So as the requirements within the space have changed that they can adapt easily with, with minimal renovation work down the road. So, understanding what that technology is and being able to look forward and put in future sleeves, allow for certain areas, be more flexible, certainly helps the spaces. You also heard that on elements, you know, Scott had mentioned of leaving enough time for the integrators to do their thing long before we’re done with the project, and that all really roots in efficiency of workflow for the production. So, understanding how the spaces work from scripting through production, through editing matter, and that’s really highly technical processes that have to be understood and worked into the design. And then we have to understand as we build through those spaces of course, like even we see in different sectors is remote work is, is very much a part of this sector as well.
Mike Farrell (19:13):
So, there’s a lot of remote production capabilities that occur with these projects. So, there’s a lot of infrastructure, internet high speed networks that have to be able to integrate with some remote people working on these connected to these projects as well. So, and then we also heard how important data management is. So, there’s a lot of data analytics and in this sector as well, like many that, that we build for. So, in this particular industry, broadcasters really want to analyze viewer behavior and preferences that would really change and lead to better content strategies. Ultimately targeted advertising relates to this. So, a lot of these projects need to have this data management capability within the site so they can process the information quickly and stay competitive.
Kiera Brady (20:04):
So, based on our lessons learned from past projects, what are some key design considerations that we work with the design teams on during that pre-construction phase when building or renovating spaces and intended for media production.
James Dunn (20:19):
So, I’ll take that question one step further and that site selection. You know, and you know, at least in, in, in one recent project we were, we were somewhat involved in, in assisting in site selection. And the big component when it comes to that is the availability of multiple utilities to the facility. Because Remember at least in a lot of cases with the projects that we’ve been involved in, they’re going to be broadcasting live content. So, downtime is something that you cannot have. So, you know, that available of multiple util availability of multiple utilities to the facility is key. But, you know, then taking it from there you know, it can’t stress it enough, the development of that mission critical infrastructure, because really, that again, is what it is. You know that support system, the HVAC system being, you know, dedicated to the media, and broadcast space, and also separated from the regular operations within that space.
James Dunn (21:20):
Because a lot of times, you know, this broadcast and media work is happening off hours, you know, the base building system, you can’t really rely on that. You’re going to shut it down for, you know, for use reasons and cost. You want to have that independent system. So, you know, I can’t stress enough that, you know, that that mission critical infrastructure design is one of the big considerations. You know, then of course expandability, you know, we you know, one of the projects that I’m thinking about, you know, from the beginning of the project when we first started to the end I was surprised how much changed, you know, as far as what they had to add to the space. So, you know, taking a look at the spaces that you’re constructing with the design team and, and, and bringing that element of expandability, whether it’s, you know, and, and not just access, but you know, your, your infrastructure, electrical expandability, HVAC, expandability, conduit and raceway expandability, you know, not just building for the moment, but building for the future.
James Dunn (22:24):
And then of course, you know access to all of that infrastructure so that you can expand, you can add cabling. You know, when I first started, you know, in, in the, in the sector, you know, it didn’t really make sense to me that, you know, there would be so much additional cable pulled, you know, during, not only as you’re building, you know, as you’re trying to close things out. And I never really understood it stood it at first, but now I do. I understand because it’s the way that the technology, the way the use of the rooms is going to change. So access to, you know, basically does not affect what you just built, these beautiful spaces, whether it’s, you know, into a raised floor system with carpet tiles, you know, how do you pull the carpet up, put it back down to make it look right, you know? An example on a project is we worked with a manufacturer to install a magnetic backing onto the floor finish so that it could be put down on the raised floor tiles. You could lift it up, you could get in there, put it back down, and it wasn’t this constant maintenance thing. You know, but those are some of the key design considerations, I think,
Kiera Brady (23:35):
Right. Yeah. Sometimes we have so much cable, it looks like it’s supporting the race floor.
James Dunn (23:39):
Yeah, yeah. You know, and, and, and, and to, to drop back on that too, structural capability, I mentioned it before you know, sometimes you’re not just putting this under the floor on a slab, you’re running it in racks above the ceiling. Can the, can the structure support all that cable, all that infrastructure, that’s something that also needs to be paid attention to very closely.
Kiera Brady (24:01):
So, Scott, this one’s for you. How do you manage strict timelines on broadcast and media projects? What strategies do we employ to meet those tight deadlines?
Scott Corneby (24:11):
So, interesting question, but again, all projects have a unique beginning to them, but I think first off, in the broadcast media type jobs, the pre-construction for both us and the client is critical, and it has to be looked at as a true investment. Jamie mentioned it about the uniqueness of building the projects, turning them over to an integrator, having time to commission ’em, and ultimately test them and then rehearse. Those are all major milestones within their schedule. So, and some of the large jobs we’ve done you get excited that you finished a space and you’ve turned it over to them on time, but there’s so many more parts that have to go before that element is really successful. So, you know, I, I think early on as the project and the scope is evolving, it’s critical during pre-construction to begin developing a really detailed schedule that’s not only just our construction subcontractors, but it’s the end user, it’s the integrator, it’s the, it’s the equipment and everything from the early turnover rooms, you know, right to the till we finish ’em up.
Scott Corneby (25:16):
You know, this schedule not only, like I said, is our subs, but on, on several of these jobs, we turn these areas over six months, nine months, maybe a year in advance, because the broadcast integrators have so much time and so much work they need to do. So I think the schedule really needs to show all the early turnovers from computer rooms, technology rooms, the studios, the edit rooms, et cetera, but also the support and the routes to get to and from them are important. I think Mike mentioned it earlier, when we turn over these rooms, we often have other areas in the balance of the Florida finish, but they need to start their work in order to get to the same end line. So they need to have the ability to get the cabling to and from every one of these technology rooms. So again, the schedule really needs to be mapped out early on, and I think the earlier everybody understands each other’s discipline, we can create a much better schedule.
Scott Corneby (26:12):
That’s for all you know, in order to help accomplish this. I think part of the question, you know, it’s like a lot of jobs. We try to order all the long lead items early, all the equipment early, any special systems early. Definitely on these types of jobs, you want an early award for any above ceiling trades. For the above ceiling coordination activity, you have to get out of the ceilings early on these type projects, a lot of ’em are a shell within a shell insulation, multiple layers of sheet rock. It’s almost impossible to go back up there if something’s not right to begin with. You know, sometimes we may make a suggestion to a client for a, for an early award of a design assist, if you will. Maybe there’s a unique element to the project, and we might suggest bringing a subcontract early to help finish the drawings.
Scott Corneby (26:58):
Again, not that the consultants can’t finish it, but it helps finish it together collectively so that when that’s finally done, you’re, you’re actually through the shop drawing and the sample process already, and you’re ready to go. You know, you know, all of this is just in an effort to ensure a steady flow of execution of these early areas and get ’em turned over in time. And again, I think we’ve repeated it a hundred times. The QA/QC, the ability to leave time for testing, for sound testing, for vibration, for commissioning, for startup, is critical in these jobs. Again, all allowing that when the talent finally shows up, they have time to rehearse in a space that’s finished, not partially finished, but done commissioned, and totally work. So, I think that’s what really makes, you know, these type projects hard are the scheduling. But again, if everybody buys into that, the precon is really the key driver in this, it makes these projects much, much more successful.
Mike Farrell (27:54):
You know, to add to that, and Kira, you asked earlier about cutting technologies within the studio broadcast spaces themselves. You know, what Scott just explained upfront in pre-construction reminds me of, of how we use cutting technologies as construction managers to augment our schedules and to plan early. So, you know, similar to how any industry’s got their own technology and cutting edge, you know, we’re at the forefront where we use similar to, to most in our business, but building information, modeling, BIM modeling in the pre-construction, Scott talked about getting early trades involved and above ceiling for a reason. While they want to get ’em in that BIM model, we use the technology to pre-coordinate to be sure that long before we’re out building, we’ve got we’ve got these systems coordinated and ready to go. And another thing that comes to mind with our technology is, is our teams are, our supers in the field have got iPads. They’ve got technology where they’ve got the results of the BIM model right at, at their fingertips, and, and they can coordinate and communicate much more efficiently as well on our job sites.
Kiera Brady (28:58):
Yeah, and I think something also that’s unique with the BIM side of things for when you’re doing studios, especially with the isolated ceilings, you have to get that carpenter to model. And once everything’s modeled as far as MEPs go, you get that carpenter in there to model is isolators is hangar. So that way that’s all coordinated, so it goes nice and smoothly once you’re, it’s time to install.
James Dunn (29:20):
Hmm. You know and just to add, you know, on the schedule, you know, we, we talked a lot about early engagement of the end users successfully we have completed projects by not only engaging them in that design, you know, and build process, but the schedule to the point where we have them bring their installing contractors in and be part of development of the schedule so that we make sure that we don’t give them a month to pull cable. That would really take, you know, five or six weeks. And you know, at least in, in a most recent project that, that we had completed we found that to be very successful and, and the installers had a lot of good points and a lot of things that we wouldn’t necessarily have thought about that helped so you know, speed up the process and make spaces available a little bit earlier for them, which in the end makes that test get ready to go live process easier for the client.
Scott Corneby (30:21):
That’s a good point. One of the more recent large headquarter projects we just finished on the broadcast media side, we did just that during the pre-construction. You would remember, Kira, we brought in the subs to help with durations of the technology portion, but not only with us and how we were going to build, but also with the integration integrator involved, so that at the end of the day, everybody was given enough time to do the job the right way.
Kiera Brady (30:44):
Jamie, this one’s for you. With the rise of digital media, have you noticed any shifts in the needs and designs of broadcasts and media facilities?
James Dunn (30:53):
So, yes. You know, as we are doing right now a podcast and, you know, the streaming of said podcast I think is one of the biggest shifts that we’re seeing. And I’ve seen it in a project that we’ve recently com completed in the couple of years that they’ve been actually active and operating. So, you know, what do I mean by that and how does it affect, you know, you know, what we’re talking about here. So, the technology, the storage, and the ability to stream this type of content you know, historically or, you know, or if you want to call it even, you know, from a legacy standpoint was kind of bigger and bulkier. The storage was on site, you know, as far as the data and the media, the, you know, the broadcasting was, you know, you know, through that big CER process.
James Dunn (31:47):
But now, with the advancements in technology, that process is much more agile. And so, what does that mean for construction? Well, you know, you can be doing a podcast or, or a streaming event in a smaller space. I’m not saying that the acoustic requirements change, but what it actually allows a person say from a square footage standpoint to do, or, or company, is build more streaming spaces, you know, with that high end acoustic requirement in a smaller square footage, and not having to rely so much on, on that, that, that legacy backbone. And so, in the end they’re able to get more use out of the space that they have. You know, one of the other things that we’re seeing as well we’ve seen this in a couple of facilities is those large studio spaces that we were talking about before, how they’re, they’re built, you know, for, you know, like that, I don’t want to call it a Venlo box because it’s not really, but it’s, you know, it’s, it’s scalable.
James Dunn (32:51):
It’s flexible. So, what we’re seeing now is that you know, the, the end users have these studios that are sitting, not idle, but maybe they have a little bit more space than they originally needed. So, what they’re doing is they’re setting this up to become a rentable service. You know, because, you know, essentially the backdrop of a studio and that robust media, you know, infrastructure is there, and you can do a lot with it. You know, you can shoot movies in a, you know, in a twenty-by-twenty room now, you know, with green screen technology or volume wall technology. But that being said, in that whole legacy design that, you know, that you had maintained, you’re residing on a network that is part of that, that corporate company, that company. So in planning for that, what we’ve seen them start discussing and actually start doing is segregating their networks so that they can still use these studio spaces for their, their own content, but they can also, you know, bring outside, you know, users in and keep their, their, you know, their data secure.
Kiera Brady (34:03):
Yeah, that’s great. I think as far as space required and everything, like you said, it is definitely they’re way more flexible than even in the past eight years of what we started with.
James Dunn (34:13):
Yeah. If you think about it, you know, a podcast studio for instance mm-hmm <affirmative>. That we’ve built, you know, that, that we’ve built on many projects in the past. It’s very large. There’s, you know, outside edit booths and, and all of, you know, so say you had a, you know, a 40 by 40 areas square footage wise, you know, that had the edit suites and everything looking into that central area, well now you can do a podcast in a much smaller environment. You know, you still have to maintain the same acoustic requirements, but you could maybe fit four of those type of setups in that square footage. And, you know, it all ends up, you know, relating to, you know, the value of your square footage and what you’re able to generate as revenue from there.
Kiera Brady (34:53):
Yeah. And it’s also definitely seeing more the opportunity to like share control rooms. Not every room needs their own control room. Sure. So just same square footage wise, Mike, what is next for broadcast and media facilities?
Mike Farrell (35:08):
Great question. Certainly, there’s a lot of good things happening right now that will continue to, to evolve and, and be out in front. Flexible spaces is very important. Now. It will continue to require the spaces to be very flexible, especially as the industry is shifting towards multi-platform content creation where it’s, there’s different production needs, whether it’s a traditional broadcast, live streaming or even a community event. That’s another future focus of, of this industry is really engaging the local content creators in the community. So, they’re going to be engaging more community activities within their locations to be sure that they’re engaging the content creators that they often need ultimately their customers in the marketplace. So, integrating technology is going to continue as technology changes rapidly as we know, especially with next Generation tv.
Mike Farrell (36:08):
You heard Jamie talk about some of those elements on some of the projects that he’s seen already that’s going to continue to grow. High speed internet cloud storage solutions. We talked about data analytics in this industry and how important it is to have that information as fast as possible because it’s making these spaces more efficient and really getting like any business enhancing their speed to market of their productions from these locations. This industry also has virtual reality and augmented reality elements that will be very much part of future broadcasting. Again, they need to be supported by particular specialty spaces, and then obviously the infrastructure to support that as well. And, and a lot of, all the other sectors that we work at structure tone and, and in the business sustainable design is very important and sustainable practices we see in every industry, every sector, this sector as it’s emerging we’re beginning to see those elements be very put out in the forefront. And that will probably even grow, whether it’s sustainable products on projects or being really cognizant of more efficient energy usage. You heard about the, the mechanical and electrical infrastructure. These spaces are drawing a lot of power, so focusing on making sure that power is being utilized most efficiently will certainly be a focus on, on future spaces in this industry as well.
Kiera Brady (37:35):
Well, this was great. It was fun talking studios. Thank you for listening to Building Conversations. Be sure to listen to this episode and any future episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks.