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There are times when a standard piece of furniture just won't do the job. For instance, when Sound Vision engineers were looking for a place to install all the innovative technology they designed into the classrooms at Judson University, they knew they needed to provide something more than an off-the-shelf classroom lectern.
They recommended a custom podium from Marshall Furniture of Antioch, Illinois. The lectern needed to house an equipment rack holding a wireless mic receiver, an auxiliary hookup for portable DVD or iPod, a digital signal processor to process voice and program audio, an amplifier, computer and video switching equipment, CAT5 distribution gear and (in one room) a VCR. The University also wanted more surface workspace than a 30" cabinet would allow.
Dick Mangione, President of Marshall Furniture, says that "a number of our customers have told us that we're the only ones who will let them have direct input into the design of a lectern. We normally put our customer directly in contact with our designers and ask them to talk through a design. We send preliminary drawings, they make changes, and we go back and forth until they like it. No other furniture company seems to be doing that."
Design team head Michelle Wille says "we went back and forth with several different designs with Judson. From the beginning, they really emphasized that the cabinet needed to be consolidated as much as possible." The university did not want so large a lectern that the instructor felt hidden from view and separated from his or her classroom. "The challenging part was to come up with a way to make it function properly and make it all fit."
The final design was a square bodied custom lectern 30" wide by 20" deep by 37" tall, the latter dimension dictated by the American Disabilities Act guidelines for a standing work surface. On that flat surface Wille made space for a 15" iMac computer monitor and a 7" AMX color touchpanel. Just below is a pullout keyboard drawer and to the left is a 24" pullout shelf for a portable Elmo document camera or paperwork a professor might bring to the lecture.
Still, Judson expressed a need for even more work space, so Wille placed an angled work surface to the instructor's right, equipped with a gooseneck microphone and LED work light. Supported by a fixed metal arm, the shelf did not decrease visibility between student and instructor but offered much needed work surface space.
"Ventilation is a major concern with this type of equipment," says Wille. "A large floor vent in the base of this cabinet brings in cool air as hot air rises and escapes through the keyboard shelf and four 10-inch vent slots in the doors. We also installed a fan in the bottom of the unit to help airflow."
In the end Wille fit what would normally require a 50" wide custom lectern into a 30” body. It looks good, too. "Judson asked us to add architectural reveals through the front face of the cabinet," says Wille. "That gave it just a little more of a visual pop."
Contact Sound Vision about custom furniture from Marshall
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