VAL DE VIE

Val de Vie is an exclusive wine and polo estate, situated 3 km from Paarl and bordering the Berg River, with the Wemmershoek Mountains providing a glorious backdrop to the polo fields, vineyards, orchards and lakes which form this jewel in the Cape Winelands.

The 220 hectare estate is the brainchild of developer Martin Venter, who saw the opportunity of transforming this once derelict piece of land into a lifestyle estate centred around the king of sports. The added allure of top notch security, cutting edge technology, and only a 30 minute drive from Cape Town International airport (not to mention helicopter landing facilities), make it the perfect environment for discerning buyers seeking an idyllic lifestyle.

Homeowners selecting their site from the 550 residential plots available have the choice of a stand amongst the 30 hectares of vineyards, one situated near the fruit orchards, paddocks or polo fields, or one of the waterfront erven.  The latter are located on the banks of four lakes and the dam, offering freshwater fishing, canoeing and bird-watching.  

Other sporting activities, aside from polo, include tennis and squash, a 25 metre pool, a sauna and a gym overlooking the vineyards.

The polo players have practice fields and stables for their horses, and for visiting players participating in the prestigious Cape Cup and other notable polo events.

Social life at the estate centres around the Pavilion - a number of buildings housing the Club House, Restaurant, Bar, Ball Room, Kiddies Play Room, Board Room, Administration Offices and Wine Tasting & Sales Room. 

The combination of natural beauty, refined architecture and elegant styling makes Val de Vie a prized investment. And in terms of security, telecoms and audio-visual systems, the homeowners and administrative staff at Val de Vie could not wish for more. 

Telecommunication

The men behind the design and installation of the sophisticated telecoms system at Val de Vie are Franz Esser of NTC Global (the local IT support company) and Lucas Visser of Building Intelligence (formerly Lucia Consulting Pty Ltd). In terms of the basic ICT infrastructure, "we made it our goal to negotiate solid technology with Telkom, and they delivered the goods!" said Lucas.

Telkom installed fibre optic from the nearby Paarl exchange to the estate.  Fibre Optic was also installed around the perimeter, and within the estate to link the various administrative, operational and leisure buildings. The fibre-optic network enables camera usage, IP telephony and general data applications in and around the estate.  Telkom also installed DSLAMs to enable each user at Val de Vie to have ADSL access.

Audio-Visual

Before Building Intelligence could finalise the design of the AV system, Lucas first had to formulate what the estate's general and specific needs would be. "The brief was very basic and wide open to interpretation. Basically, the developer wanted an AV system that would satisfy the type of person who would be living on an estate of this kind - exclusive living centred around polo - who would expect first class delivery with operational  simplicity," said Lucas. "Everyone in this industry knows that one of the biggest challenges is installing high end systems for users who do not want the bother of having to acquire any form of training to operate them."

It took approximately a year before the design was refined enough to satisfy the developer, and then it was full steam ahead to commence and complete the installation.

Audio infrastructure

Building Intelligence designed two audio systems which are integrated to function as one.  For the exterior of the Pavilion, Lucas specified JBL Control 30 Series speakers powered by Crown CTS 2000 amplifiers to supply audio to the terrace and the polo fields it overlooks. The 18 speaker enclosures mounted externally are divided into four zones to allow for individual control.

At the heart of the audio processing system is a BSS BLU 80 processor with Cobranet functionality, which provides enormous flexibility. Also, at 96 KHz, it has the power to process any signals entering or exiting the system, while allowing for total control of the various zones.

Inside the Pavilion, the most challenging aspect of the audio requirements was for the Ball Room. With its permanently installed dance floor, the main purpose of the ballroom is to serve as a venue for wedding receptions, but it is also used for other special functions and exhibitions. 

"The brief from the developer was that he wanted people to be able to sit at the tables and have conversations without having to shout to be heard, but once they stepped on the dance floor they had to feel surrounded by the music," said Lucas. "It wasn't the easiest thing to achieve."

Building Intelligence installed 6 x Control 30 Series 2-way speaker enclosures on a truss and added 4 x Control SB210 Sub Woofers to create full sound on the dance floor, with the calculation that the overspill and the natural acoustic energy of the room would provide adequate sound for those seated at the tables. "The way we installed the system added to the acoustical drop (dead spots) experienced by those seated at the tables. It‘s the only time we've ever been pleased about dead spots!"

Another requirement was for soft background in various areas, and for different sources in these areas to be played simultaneously with background music. To allow for each area or zone to be able to be controlled individually, a Crestron and BSS system was specified. Building Intelligence installed Control 26C ceiling mount speakers for day-to-day operations in the Club House, Ball Room, Restaurant and Wine Tasting & Sales, as well as in the offices, toilets and basement. Control 23 Satellite speakers were specified for the entrance foyer, and Control 25 AV speakers for the Bar and Board Room. Crown CTS amplifiers were installed with the various types of speakers.

Control and AV System

Hours of discussion went into the specifications for the Control and AV system in an effort to design a system that incorporated many different requirements. The solution was an AV system divided into six areas or zones - Ball Room, Bar, Club House, Wine Tasting & Sales Room, Board Room and AV Control Room - with each able to function independently if required. Each zone has multiple inputs for sources such as laptops, IPODs, etc, as well as its own DSTV point, DVD player and CD player. "A top priority was that the equipment in every zone could be easily operated by anyone, even the tea lady," said Lucas.  

"We sought advice from Electrosonic and agreed with John Ungerer & Eugene Coetzee that the Quick Media System would meet the requirements and have the flexibility to be expanded," said Lucas.

A Crestron QM-MD8x8 was installed in the ‘Nerve Centre', which is the data centre for the servers, UPS rack and Building Management System, as well as the central hub where all the underground communication sleeves connect together into multiple racks of equipment.

Crescat-QM cable was used to connect all the zones together, operating similarly to a data switch used to connect multiple PCs together on a logical network. In this case, the switch is used to connect all the input transmitters in each zone (QM-WMC, QM-WMCIC and 6 x CNX-B12 plates), as well as all the output receivers (6 x QM-RMCRX-BA). Each zone thus has an input transmitter and an output receiver which uses the QM-MD8x8 switch to perform all the work of the audio, video and control matrix. In effect, this means that the same media can be sent to any one of the 6 zones or to all zones simultaneously, or different content can be sent to one or more zones. 

"Adding the matrix facility gave us the flexibility of routing any video or audio to any zone," said Lucas. "The beauty of the system is that it uses standard CAT5 cable technology to transmit high quality video and audio signals around the buildings. It was an absolute pleasure installing the system because there was no need to install multiple cables for video and audio distribution. That is a thing of the past!"

Building Intelligence surprised Electrosonic by achieving Crescat-QM cable runs of 300 metres per zone.  "It was only after we'd installed the system that we discovered that the maximum length of cable runs from the transmitters to the receivers should not exceed 150 metres!" said Lucas. "We encountered only one problem with the long run to the Wine Tasting & Sales Room. We couldn't get the system to transmit the VGA correctly, but we made another plan which worked well." 

An important part of the cable installation was ensuring its invisibility as far as possible. "Every single conduit was chased into the walls, as we did not want any unnecessary cable and power or data point clutter."

AV Control Room

The AV Control Room, separated from the Ball Room by one-way glass, is the control centre for all the audio and visual equipment throughout the six zones. It is where most of the AV equipment is housed, and the permanently air-conditioned room is furnished with a workstation, telephone, and touchpanel to enable the AV Technician to comfortably manage the various Crestron controlled areas and sound zones. With QM functionality, the technician is able to input any media into the transmitter device and route it to any other zone from the 15" TPMC-QM Touchpanel. There is also a Soundcraft 12 channel mixer for any additional inputs required, such as the Shure ULX Wireless system which is permanently on site for use in any of the zones at any time.

Ball Room

It was decided that the Ball Room should have a permanent technical infrastructure. The rationale was two-fold: Firstly, the venue was protected from the potential damage caused by setting up and dismantling AV equipment for each function; and secondly, a permanent installation guaranteed the delivery of a certain standard of quality performance. "With the permanent installation, the ballroom can cater for bands, discos, weddings and other events at a moment's notice. Clients book our Lighting Technician to program the required lighting scene before the event, the settings are saved, and then recalled instantly on the day of the event," said Lucas. "It also minimises the costs to clients, making hosting events at Val de Vie even more attractive." 

The Ball Room has a permanently installed Prolyte Truss system suspended from the roof beams, which was integrated as part of the interior design of the room, with chandeliers chosen to match the silver truss. 

The QM devices in the ballroom make it quick and easy to set up a lapel mic for a speech or presentation, with accompanying equipment including 2 x Panasonic PTLB-50 projectors installed at a distance of five metres from 2 x Screen International 3.5m x 2.65m tab tensioned screens. There are also 6 x Martin MX10 Scanners and 24 x PAR 58 Parcans powered by an Electron Actor 716 12-channel dimmer pack. All the lights are programmed and controlled by Martin Professional's LightJockey.

Bar

The AV installation in the Bar had to accommodate the shape of the counter. "We wanted to ensure that no matter where people sat, they could clearly see the screen and hear the audio.  There's nothing worse than anticipating the pleasure of enjoying cold beers while you watch the game, and then finding that your view of the screen is limited and you can't hear the commentary," said Lucas. To achieve their goal, they installed 2 x Panasonic 42" screens linked to 4 x JBL Control 25AV speakers (one pair per screen) on opposite walls of the room. These are linked to a QM-Room Transmitter which performs all the backend processing for this zone.

Club House

The Club House is a comfortable, more intimate environment, designed for polo players and guests to relax in leather armchairs between chukkas or after a match, read the papers beside a crackling fire on a winter's afternoon, or enjoy a drink at the private bar. It is also the venue of choice for small, informal get-togethers. 

The AV installation includes 1 x 42" Panasonic Plasma screen, 1 x Crestron QM-RMC & (MIC) input transmitter and QM receiver, so that guests at the Club House may watch TV, DVDs,  play music or use iPods and laptops with ease, as the system is designed to offer one-button source selection and one button volume control.

Gym

Whether residents are working out on the steppers, treadmills, rowers or cycles, the views of the estate through the floor-to-ceiling tinted glass walls give the impression that they're actually cycling or running between rows of vines! In addition to the glorious natural surroundings, gym enthusiasts also have the option of watching sport, news or anything else of their choice, or listening to music while they work out. 

The AV installation consists of 2 x Panasonic 42" Plasma screens, DSTV and DVD facilities and 4 x JBL Control 29 AV speakers for audio.  

Wine Tasting & Sales

There is a similar AV set-up in the Wine Tasting & Sales Room - 1 x Panasonic 42" Plasma screen for DVD presentations and JBL Control 26 ceiling speakers for background and presentation sound.  "Val de Vie's winemaker was very impressed with the efficiency and flexibility of the system. He is now able to arrange a wine tasting presentation on the spur of the moment, as it requires only 30 seconds to plug-in his PC and mic, and another 5 seconds to switch on the system. So in less than a minute he is able to set up a visual presentation on the plasma screen and provide the audio presentation to customers via his lapel mic."

Board Room

The AV installation in the Board Room offers the same ease of use, as well as the same power and control as the other five zones. Equipment includes 1 x Panasonic PTLB 50 Projector, a 2.25m x 1.75m motorised screen, 4 x JBL Control 25 AV satellite speakers and 1 x Crestron ST-1700 Touchpanel for easy control of all functions.  The installation meets every requirement for conducting meetings and presentations, and with its panoramic view of the main field, polo commentators can simply plug in a wireless mic and effortlessly broadcast their commentary to spectators at the matches.

Conclusion

Building Intelligence has implemented an SLA to manage and support all the installed systems at Val de Vie, ensuring a four hour response time for urgent calls to resolve any problems that may arise. 

"We have created a logical network using standard TCP/IP as core protocols. All the equipment is on the same IP range and forms part of a VPN (Virtual Private Network) which we use to access the system. In addition, Roomview runs on the local AV Server to assist with remote functionality," said Lucas. "So far, so good ... and we have room for expansion."

The entire installation took two and a half years from concept to completion, and the result has more than satisfied both the developers, homeowners and guests at Val de Vie.  "It has been a pleasure and a privilege to have contributed towards making Val de Vie a world class residential and leisure estate," said Lucas. "We wish them well, and trust that our working relationship will continue with future expansion."