South by Southwest (SXSW) 2022 has come and gone. Austin’s own Felix Media Solutions (FMS) completed a full audio-visual integration to enable the Spatial Holodeck, including a fully immersive and transformational soundscape powered by Spatial’s unique technology.
With AV by FMS, hardware provided by Sonance and James Loudspeaker, fabrication by Pink Sparrow, and an experience by Meow Wolf located right next door, this event was one for the record books! The Spatial Holodeck, located at the Sunset Room (310 E. 3rd St.), played host to several events, including a collaboration with the National Geographic Society.
A third Austin location, Wanderlust Wine Co. located at 702 Shady Lane, featured the Spatial Creator Lab and included a permanent installation guests of the indoor, self-serve style taproom can visit any time.
And speaking of record books, an internal record was set by FMS staff during the install: most cable pulled for a single project, with a total of 35,000 feet - roughly the cruising altitude of a full-sized airplane.
Killian Ivy, who served as the FMS Project Manager, said the most difficult thing about working across the project’s three job sites (the Spatial Holodeck, the Meow Wolf experience, and the Wanderlust location) was “making sure that what we need to be at each job site and when” was present. This was complicated by several factors: the Meow Wolf experience was housed in a temporary structure, the Sunset Room and Wanderlust continued to operate as normal during the course of the installation, which limited the hours work could be done, and there were only 18 days total to complete the entire integration across the three locations.
Over the 18-day installation period, 15 FMS employees contributed approximately 800 hours of labor, from tasks encompassing mounting speakers to project management. The company installed approximately 350 Sonance speakers, including wall-mounted and pendant speakers and subwoofers mounted in rafters and on the ground to support the immersive audio programmed by Spatial. Five fully-loaded racks were constructed and commissioned, allowing for superior control of the installed systems.
Each site presented its own unique challenges.
The Meow Wolf experience, erected in what is normally a parking lot, was housed in a temporary structure with limited availability for each trade to complete their own complicated installation. This included drapers, lighting experts, FMS technicians, and the creative team at Meow Wolf, each needing special and sometimes large equipment like lifts to reach the high ceiling. Each team had to be carefully sequenced and complete their work quickly and flawlessly for the event to come together. From installation to event, the construction of the finished space was tight, leaving little wiggle room for testing.
“We had a lot of surprises that popped up. That’s just part of supporting large live events like this one. It takes experienced installers who know how to adjust and figure it out as they go to complete this particular task on time,” said FMS Vice-President of Operations Ben Lanclos. “We have a local team of highly-trained professionals. I’m particularly grateful for their flexibility and problem-solving skills. There were a lot of late nights to get this done.”
The Wanderlust location, too, came with unique challenges.
“The walls were covered in incredible mural art, and the largest wall was criss-crossed on its back with lines supporting the wine taps. We had to drill holes to support speakers. One wrong move would have spelled disaster for the client,” Lanclos said. “Additionally, you have the challenge of placement. How do you balance function and aesthetics in a space with an established character?”
In addition to Ivy, the FMS crew was led by Field Operations Manager Justin Bryant and Senior Site Lead Russel Thompson. Lanclos thanked his team, saying “without [their] full commitment, this project would not have been possible.”
This video was produced for Spatial by Taylor Nolen and Geoffrey Gan of Xi Media Productions.
