Adapt Case Study
Crown ADAPTs a Better Way
Have you heard of Seattle’s Space Needle? The iconic 605-foot tower was built in 1962 for the World’s Fair, becoming a Seattle landmark and an instantly recognizable icon in the city’s skyline. Nestled here in Dallas, TX we happen to have our own iconic landmark in our downtown’s cityscape - Reunion Tower. Reunion Tower is referred to locally as ‘the ball’, the south’s own version of the Needle. Just like the Space Needle, Reunion Tower also features a revolving fine-dining restaurant at the top, Five-Sixty, named after height of the building. This iconic restaurant is well known for being a part of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant group.
Since PanTech Design specializes in Crestron programming tools and not in reviewing restaurants, you may be wondering what this has to do with ADAPT. Crown Audio Video in Dallas, TX was the Crestron Technology Professional (CTP) selected to do the automation enhancements for the Five-Sixty Restaurant. When they ran into software challenges with the system they were implementing, they turned to PanTech Design for the answer. Read on to learn more about the project and how ADAPT and the PanTech Design team helped Crown complete this high-visibility commercial automation project.
The Project
In terms of automation complexity, this was not a difficult project for Crown Audio Video. The project had some tricky wrinkles that they knew would need to be ironed out. The scope involved integrating control of lights, automated shades, multi-floor audio and video from a Dish Network satellite system. In the restaurant, the lighting, shades and music volume would be modified as the day progressed, setting the right moods and ambient levels for the afternoon and evening crowds. In addition, the system needed to interface with an existing antiquated Lutron system. The Crestron system was chosen for automation especially because the user interface, operated by wall mounted touchpads throughout the restaurant, could be highly customized for the restaurant’s look and simplified operation.
There were unique physical challenges with the restaurant’s layout and design. The kitchen, containing the equipment closet, was a fixed area in the middle of the tower. The dining area was the rotating section, so running wires was not always possible for the majority of the control and networking. Wireless connections had to be used throughout. Yamaha amplifiers powering Klipsch speakers were used for the ambient music in the dining area. Crown was masterful in getting around the physical challenges and making everything work wirelessly.
The Programming Challenge
The big challenge was getting the programming to work flawlessly. Because the automation sequences were not particularly complicated, Crown had estimated about a day’s worth of programming for the installation. Under normal conditions this is completely reasonable. However, all it takes is one small insurmountable challenge to derail a project and that’s what almost happened here. After struggling with the limitations of the existing software, ADAPT stepped up with a more flexible software platform to get the job across the finish line.
Working with Crown, we used the ADAPT platform to sort out the issues. The ADAPT software was able to smooth out the problems with control, as well as accommodate the customized user interface with the restaurant’s desired graphics. PanTech Design completed the programming and implementation remotely using ADAPT, with Crown’s hands on-site for support and had it done in a day, as Crown originally intended.
We’ve discussed before how ADAPT saves time and how that is critical in delivering projects on time and with sufficient margins. Crown might have been able to solve the programming issues over time, but it would have required a much deeper dive into the Crestron toolset, at considerable expense, and risked the ire of a high-profile customer and project. With ADAPT, the problems were quickly solved, and the Crestron system worked as it should.
Want to learn more about other ADAPT success stories? Please contact us; we’d love to tell you.