The sharks are still swimming in the Windy City. 🦈
Our Connect Series amplifiers continue to power audio inside the iconic Willis Tower in downtown Chicago. When the tower needed an audio system built for power, flexibility, and scalability, our partners at USIS AV selected LEA to serve as the backbone.
Take another look at this 2020 install and see how it all came together.
The Spec:
📍Venue: Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower)
👷♂️Integrator: USIS AV
🏢 Venue Size: 2 floors, over 90,000 sq. ft.
🦈 Product Used: CS354 (10)
The Venue
Willis Tower is a 110-story, 1,450-foot (442.1 m) skyscraper located in the heart of downtown Chicago. Construction began in 1971 and the tower was completed in 1973, making it the tallest building in the world for the next 25 years. Now, the tower is the third tallest building in the United States and the twenty-third tallest in the world.
Recently, a global co-working company that provides premium work, meeting, and event spaces around the world needed a multifunctional AV system to support two floors of the tower totaling over 90,000 square feet.
The space consists of 17 different rooms including high ceilings as well as floor-to-ceiling glass.
The Install
For Anthony Magarelli, Director of Engineering at USIS AV, the historical landmark came with its challenges, not only were the team ensuring equal acoustic coverage across 17 different rooms within 90,000 square ft of space, USIS AV also had to contend with high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass.
“Product placement was a real challenge on this project and we were constantly re-evaluating zone layout and counts,” commented Magarelli. “That was the beauty of working with LEA Professional amplifiers, their system is completely scalable so their form factor worked really well in this space and eliminated some of the main challenges.”
In the end, USIS AV installed ten CS354 amplifiers to provide equal coverage across the two floors.
The Integrator
The team at USIS AV was tasked with the AV design and build in two floors of the tower.
USIS AV, headquartered in Pearl River, New York, provides an extensive range of services to its clients including technology services, electrical contracting, AV systems, security, PoE lighting, wireless solutions and training services. The company has a presence in 10 major US Markets and prides itself on providing exceptional customer service.
We got the opportunity to talk shop with Anthony Magarelli, Director of Engineering at USIS AV.
Read the full spotlight here for more about their business, challenges, and motivations.
For Pearl River, New York-based USIS AV, IoT capabilities such as LEA Professional’s Cloud Platform are vital to providing exceptional customer care.
“The ability to have this system on the cloud allows us to troubleshoot projects with any of our certified support staff across different time zone,” said Magarelli. “No matter where our client might be based, we can still provide them with an incredible level of support, even in a time where travel is not always possible.”
With the global pandemic causing delays all over the world, Margarelli was working against the clock to get this project completed on time.
“It was LEA Professional’s responsiveness and professionalism that made it possible for us to finish this project, despite challenging circumstances,” said Margarelli. “While we experienced some delays from other manufactures, LEA got us their product on time and they were with us every step of the way.”
The Conclusion
It’s truly an honor for our products and our company to be represented in one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. We’d like to thank USIS AV for giving our Connect Series chance in this project and we hope that people will benefit from the support provided by our amps in the Willis Tower for many years to come.
