BAFTA

Whilst BAFTA is famous for its film and television awards, it is also a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Much of BAFTA’s work is in inspiring, supporting, and celebrating new talent and young creatives.
Technology is a crucial pillar in supporting BAFTA’s vision and much technology was integrated as part of its recent refurbishment. It spans the gamut of AV applications – walking through the building you will find both DCI and laser projection, LCD displays, LED tiles, and content management.
The functional areas and technologies can be divided into four main areas.

1 RGB pure laser for the film and gaming industries: The Run Run Shaw Theatre
The film, gaming and TV members now have an intimate theatre to watch their work or productions. Christie CP2309-RGB DCI-compliant projector with RealLaser illumination delivers bright images, and greater than 95% of the Rec. 2020 colour space.

2. The corporate spaces and the new Creative Learning Suite
BAFTA can bring their charitable outreach work in-house for the first time. Bright gallery rooms – with a magnificent original roof light – have Christie LCD displays and GS Series 1DLP laser projectors, which eliminates the need for lamp changes. The ‘most revered space’, the David Lean room Boardroom and other meeting rooms also have 55- and 75-inch LCD displays.

3 Venue for Hire: State-of-the-art 360˚ projection mapping
There is a unique venue carved into the space. Pull down the blinds on the huge windows looking out to Piccadilly and the Ray Dolby room is transformed with 360-degree projection using 12 Christie D20WU-HS laser projectors, Christie Mystique™ software, and Pandoras Box® for content management.

4. Foyers and Signage
Seamless MicroTiles LED video walls are customised in the entrance foyers and public spaces and Christie Captiva short-throw projectors are used in the stairwell, variously to greet visitors, make announcements and show other content in public spaces.

BAFTA’s renovation was one of the most extensive you could imagine, taking seven years in total with the AV and technology coming on board in the last two. The challenges were to provide such a wide range of AV for very different user groups, functions, and applications. The technology was incorporated into the design and involved months of collaboration with Christie services, the integrators, architects, and design company.
The diverse groups and functions that the remodel had to serve included the film, gaming and television learning suites for young creatives, corporate meeting rooms and a spectacular venue that can be rented out.
As such, the AV spec was discussed and tweaked over the months in an iterative process to accommodate such an ambitious project. A couple of the spaces stand out as examples of the level of technology and teamwork needed.
The Christie CP2309-RGB laser projector gives fantastic images but there is also the benefit of low maintenance, energy efficiency and the green benefits of no lamps. Christie worked with the architectural team during the build on the projector pod design. Space was incredibly tight with the projector and pod recessed into the top and back of the room. It took several people to manoeuvre the kit into place. Installation and running is helped by the user-interface screen on the side of the projector and was very well received.

The Ray Dolby Room is another instance where the AV was worked into the building design and involved coordination between several parties. Blinds were fitted over the windows and alcoves to provide as seamless a background as possible for the projectors, which create a stunning London night-time panorama.

BAFTA’s refurbishment literally raised the roof three metres to create an extra floor. That gives an idea of the scale on this 7-year project. It is characterised by enormous scope, vision and ambition. It is also characterised by technology and teamwork.

It speaks for itself that Christie was BAFTA’s “tier one” choice for the level of quality, range and – importantly – the service. In the words of Pauline Campbell, Head of Property at BAFTA who oversaw the entire build: “I loved Christie. When we went out to look for our partners – myself and Natalie Moss, Senior Manager for Partnerships – we had a wish list of organizations we never dreamt we would get because we thought they’d all say ‘Why would we want to do that?’ Actually, we ended up with all of them. And Christie were one of the first to come on board and they’ve been a dream every single day.”

As for the technology, the HS Series pushed the boundaries of 1DLP projection with BoldColor Technology while the onboard Christie Twist™ for warping and blending and optional Christie Mystique™ automated camera-based alignment tools to make multi-projector systems quick and easy. Christie leads the way in RGB pure laser cinema projection, the flat screens are designed for big impact, reliability and additional features. When Christie redeveloped game-changing MicroTiles they set out to make the best LED display technology available.
As to teamwork, Pauline Campbell, charmingly refers to ‘the village’ of several hundred consultants. trades and crafts people closely working with each other and Christie support. ”Scott from Christie was our main installer along with Pal,” she explained. “They’re so collaborative. They made everything a joy and it’s testament to them how fabulous the building looks. You know, there’s £3m worth of tech in the building, a big old chunk of that is Christie and it looks phenomenal. And that’s down to their vision of what kit they wanted to put in and, yes, I love them.”