King Saud University
Riyadh, Saudia Arabia

Picture

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Designed by HOK+4, a consortium of U.S. and British A&E firms, this 3-billion dollar project consisted of a new University campus near Riyadh, the capital city of Saudia Arabia. It represents one of the largest architectural commissions paid to a consortium of architects and engineers during the past 100 years. This first phase of the University was designed to serve a daytime population of 30,000 students and include its own infrastructure making it a complete and independent community. The systems designed and commissioned by ACSI had a construction value of $354,700,000 U.S.D.
ACSI’s RESPONSIBILITIES:
ACSI performed extensive program planning, system concepts, design and specifications on all of the instructional communications and audio/visual systems for the new University. More specifically related to conference facility design, ACSI was involved in the development and implementation of professional sound and video systems for two separate auditoria: a tri-level, 2,500 seat full theater, designed primarily for stage performances with automated orchestra pit (able to be modified for congress-style, multi-lingual conventions); and a 700 seat auditorium geared toward lecture and film presentations. Exemplary systems designed for these two facilities included the following:

Systems Common To Both Auditoriums
  • Multi-channeled, simultaneous language interpretation systems serving all occupants
  • Large-screen video projection
  • Multi-image audio-visual presentation systems with rear-screen projection
  • 16mm and 35mm film projector and multi-image 35mm slide projector, microprocessor projection and audio-visual environment control system

Systems Specific To 2,500 Seat Auditorium
  • Theatrical sound reinforcement system, including audio mixing and stage management systems, and design of station for housing sound control equipment
  • High-fidelity musical/concert sound reinforcement systems, custom-designed within the auditorium’s acoustical constraints
  • Language interpretation system specifically designed for congress-style meetings/conventions
  • Theatrical video systems and multi-configuration apparatus
Instructional Systems
  • TV Production Studios
  • Audio Production Studios
  • Language Laboratories
  • Film Production and Processing Facilities
  • Campus TV Distribution System