Thorburn Associates Brings Council Chambers Into the Future

Castro Valley, CA (PRWEB) October 26, 2006

"The seamless integration of technology is key to the success of today's Council Chambers," states Lisa Thorburn, President of Thorburn Associates (TA). Recently awarded three design contracts for council chambers projects, Thorburn Associates will focus on making presentation technology accessible.

Computer presentations using PowerPoint or similar programs are common; however, the user interface, that is, which button to push and when to push it, can be very intimidating. Modern council chambers typically hold meetings that are simultaneously broadcast to the public to keep communication open and inform the community of events. If the broadcast video is captured for a 'video archive' it can be saved for later playback, streamed to the Internet and provide a statement of record. Computer voting systems allow each member's vote to be confidentiality compiled, then displayed.

These are just a few of the challenges to successfully integrating technology. For the upcoming Durham County Council Chambers in North Carolina, the existing 1991 technology in an historic building will be upgraded. http://www.durhamnc.gov/

The audiovisual design for the Greenville, North Carolina Government Center Council Chambers integrates dual rear-projection screens and overhead document cameras for viewing exhibits and site plans as well as a digital video cable broadcast system. A separate loudspeaker system was designed for the pressroom, lobby and council anteroom. http://www.greenvillenc.gov/

The design is complete and construction about to begin on the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas. The project covers acoustical and audiovisual services for five floors. The design of the boardroom includes a cable and Internet broadcast. Presentation technology will be included in a management videoconference suite, divisible meeting rooms, and public and staff briefing rooms. http://www.snwa.com/html/index.html

"These projects add to Thorburn Associates' broad range of projects which encompass everything from airports to zoos," states Thorburn.

Other Council Chamber projects TA has completed include: City of Fremont, Town of Windsor, Union City Council Chambers, New Union City Council Chambers, Santa Clara City Council Chambers, American Canyon Council Chamber, Forsythe County Government Center, San Leandro City Hall, Riverside County Boardroom, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District and the East Bay Municipal Water District.

TA is a professional design firm providing acoustical consulting and technology system engineering for the commercial, corporate, leisure, residential and retail industries. For more information please visit http://www.TA-Inc.com.

Thorburn Associates: Designing Quality Environments.

For high-resolution images: http://www.TA-Inc.com/pr-pics.htm

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