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The Coquitlam council chamber was designed by Grant & Sinclair Architects Ltd., and built by Dominion Construction. We developed the sound, video and control systems design for the chamber. The room has a video presentation system with a large rear projection screen, a high brightness XGA LCD video projector, 14" LCD XGA computer monitors mounted in the mayor/council and clerk desks for display of all video-based presentation materials. Video sources include computer presentations that can be sourced from the presenter's positions, 8 staff positions, the clerk/manager's computer, a video document camera, a slide-to-video converter, and a VCR. There are also two small robotic cameras to provide video HANSARD recording and also to allow the audience to see the faces of the presenters during a presentation.

The audio system uses miniature shotgun microphones and a mix-minus loudspeaker configuration for the desks, plus an auto-mix buss for the ceiling speakers in the public gallery area. The press desks have audio distribution of the mix, as does Roger's Cable. The cable TV truck also gets a video feed of all presentation material, including scan converted computer presentations.

The touch screen control system allows the city clerk to operate the technical systems, room lights and window shades, and control and preview the video sources. The touch screen also operates the order-of-speaking queue. The mayor has a small touch panel display that allows him to view the names in the queue and/or control the queue if desired. The order of speaking queue has indicators on each desk that let each person know when they are in the queue and when they are live. They can also drop themselves out of the queue if someone else has dealt with their issue. The room is used by several committees as well, so the system can be set for order-of-speaking operation or a free run auto-mix for conventional committee meetings.

We also provided ongoing acoustical design input to accommodate the 21m diameter round room shape, and eliminate the potentially troublesome reflections that can come from a round room. A combination of diffuser shaping of the walls and strategically placed absorption eliminate any whispering gallery effect, or focusing of talkers. The unique ceiling construction also incorporates acoustical treatment to control reverberation time in the space.

Here's a small floorplan that shows the relationship between the room, the audience, and the council. The staff are located at desks on the lower left of the gallery seating, the clerk and presenter desks face the council horseshoe in the centre of the room.