University of Bradford Partners with Roche and Hikvision for Cutting-Edge Campus Upgrades

Commercial Display

Global

Global - English

Asia

Europe

Oceania

ANZ - English

Latin America

North America

Middle East and Africa

Search stories

Cancel

Reset

Submit

When the University of Bradford sought to modernise its AV infrastructure, it worked with Roche AV Pro to deliver an ambitious upgrade across multiple facilities, utilising a host of cutting edge technologies including the integration of Hikvision LED displays

The University of Bradford is known for its commitment to innovation, social mobility and sustainability. With a history dating back to 1832, the university serves a diverse student population of more than 11,000 and emphasizes sustainable development goals in all its projects.

So, when the university sought to modernise audio visual infrastructure across multiple campus buildings to better align with its vision for cutting-edge education, its inclusive and sustainable ethos was a crucial element of the planning.

Russ Hind, Head of IT Service Delivery at Bradford, said the upgrade was prompted because the AV estate on campus had become non-standardised and unreliable.

“It was causing problems, primarily because of its age,” he said. “The University allocated almost £2 million over two years for upgrades and improvements across the campus to enhance the student experience.”

To implement the bold upgrade, the university worked with leading audiovisual solutions provider Roche AV Pro, the specialist services division of Roche AV. Roche AV Pro has built a reputation for delivering seamless, state-of-the-art, award-winning solutions with a proven commitment to sustainability.

The AV upgrade aimed to enhance the quality of teaching and learning areas, while also establishing flagship spaces with a ‘wow’ factor for students, staff and visitors. The challenge? Complete the initial upgrade during the summer months of 2024 in time for teaching to begin in September.

The clock was ticking.

Big Screens In The Barn

Roche suggested the university use Hikvision LED displays for three key campus facilities: the Horton Barn, Student Central, and Midwifery (which fell under the purview of a separate concurrent project). Hikvision has been active in the LED market for more than a decade, and boasts unrivalled R&D and manufacturing capabilities.

These would work with and alongside kit from manufacturers including Extron, Clevertouch, Top Tec, Wolfvision, Axis, Senn, Kramer, Audio Technica, Iiyayma, btech, and Marshall.

The Hikvision LED displays were selected because of their performance and cost-effectiveness, according to Roche AV’s Stafford Lund.

“The Hikvision LEDs were chosen because we have a very good ongoing relationship with Hikvision, and we know it’s a high quality product,” Lund said. “The price point was crucial. If the LED option hadn’t been remarkably cost-effective, the university would likely have gone for a projection option.”

Nick Cragg, AV Architect at the University of Bradford, said the LED choice was particularly vital in the Horton D lecture theatre, known affectionately as ‘the Barn’, the largest lecture theatre on campus.

“We had three projectors on a rolled steel joist beam in the ceiling, and whenever you closed or opened the doors in the room, that beam would swing, which in turn made the projection swing,” he said. “Obviously that wasn’t ideal in our premier lecture space.

“The only way to get around that, without ripping down the building and spending millions on structural work, was to put in an LED wall and get rid of the projectors. The Hikvision option allowed us to do that on a particularly impressive scale.”

The Horton Barn installation involved two Hikvision 5th generation 4K resolution 1.2mm pixel-pitch LEDs placed side-by-side, creating a visually spectacular 9.6m wide video wall at the front of the lecture theatre.

The two big screens are integrated with cameras and microphones in the lecture theatre to provide for collaborative teaching and interaction.

Cragg said he was pleasantly surprised by how easy the LED wall was to install.

“I was dreading the work,” he said. “There are so many moving parts with such a huge project, which had a hard deadline as everything had to be done by the start of the new term. I'd envisioned problems and delays, but the teams worked so well together. Despite having to work around decorators, electrical work, cleaning teams, open days, and all sorts of university activity, everything was delivered seamlessly.”

Entertainment and Engagement

Student Central is a key hub on campus, housing bar, social and study areas for Bradford students. As part of the upgrade project, Roche installed a 136-inch – 3m x 1.75m – Hikvision P1.5 Flex series LED display as the space’s main entertainment focal point.

The big screen is multifunctional, showing sports, hosting karaoke nights and film events, and displaying music videos and digital signage announcements. The Hikvision LED also is integrated to further digital signage screens around the Student Central space.

Total AV investment for this part of the project was £35,000.

“It’s a significant upgrade and improvement for the students,” Cragg said. “The area is now cleaner, brighter, fresher and more inviting, and the big LED provides an excellent visual focus for the events that take place there.”

Precision Displays, Interactive Learning

In the university’s Midwifery teaching facility, Roche supplied and installed a video display wall consisting of eight Hikvision 4K 1.2mm pixel pitch LED screens. This created an impressive viewing area of 4.8m x 2.7m.

This project, which was coordinated separately from the Horton Barn and Student Central upgrades, included a full renovation of the Midwifery area, as well as upgrading existing AV equipment in a teaching space across the corridor, allowing content to be shared across both spaces.

Emily Bee, Assistant Professor at the University of Bradford, said: “The installation of the new technologies in the Midwifery Space has completely changed the way we are able to teach and expanded the accessibility of our content. This is the start of a new teaching era at Bradford, with digital technologies supporting our vision of contemporary midwifery education.”

In total, £150,000 worth of improvements were made to the Midwifery area of campus.

Sustainability and Accessibility

Sustainability was a cornerstone of this project. Roche AV’s proximity to the campus minimised transportation emissions, with electric vehicles used wherever possible. Hikvision’s LED displays, chosen for their energy efficiency, aligned with the university’s commitment to sustainable development goals.

Accessibility improvements were equally prioritised. The project design team, led by Nick Cragg, doubled the number of fully accessible spaces on campus. Features like improved visibility, integrated microphones, and audience-facing cameras made lecture halls more inclusive for students and lecturers with varying needs, and improved the university’s hybrid learning capabilities.

Hitting Deadlines

The installation spanned two and half months, from mid-June to the end of August 2024. Tight schedules necessitated parallel workstreams. Clearing and other university summer activities happened concurrently with the upgrades, which included decorating and refurbishments alongside the AV project.

“One of the things that was ever present in our minds was the hard deadline,” said university IT Project manager Rosie Dowen. “Teaching was starting the day after we were due to complete the decorating work, so that had to be worked around. Summer is actually the busiest time on campus. There are open days, festivals, results day and clearing. So we had to navigate around those University kind of activities, and that was handled really well.”

The Wow Factor

Since the start of teaching in September, the new improvements have been incredibly well received by staff and students at Bradford.

Russ Hind said: “The overall project has made a massive difference. You walk into the Barn now and you have a significant display screen. You have a wow factor. Students are impressed with the improvements, and you can see how this will impact their learning. It has given us a flagship area that we are looking to replicate in other areas of the university in summer 2025.”

Neil Hudson, University of Bradford Media Relations Manager, said: “As someone who works in communications, I am constantly on the lookout for examples of how our university enhances the student experience. It is sometimes difficult to translate high-level strategic aims into concrete examples but the big screen in the Horton Barn lecture theatre does so in jaw-dropping 4K resolution. It certainly has the 'wow factor'. Apart from being visually impressive, it also speaks to the commitment of the university towards enhancing its learning and teaching experience. Taken together with the lecture-capture technology, it means the University of Bradford really is making the most of the latest technology.”

Erica Bellamy, Director of Digital Health & Social Care, who represented the faculty on the project, said: "Working with Roche AV across multiple projects has been transformative for the University of Bradford. These innovations have helped us create multifunctional spaces that support accessible, real-world learning experiences and integrate digital technologies designed to deliver contextually authentic education."

Vice-Chancellor Professor Shirley Congdon said: "Students who come to study at the University of Bradford rightly expect to be able to interact with the latest technology. This latest investment is part of our commitment to continually improve the student experience."

Stafford Lund, Roche AV’s Sales Manager, said: “This installation was a great success. Partnering with Hikvision has provided the university with hugely impressive LED displays in key teaching and social spaces. Our team is extremely proud to be involved in this sustainability-led initiative. The university’s determination to create a better, more accessible, and sustainable learning environment aligns with our goals, and those of Hikvision. It was a pleasure to be part of this project.”

Summary

The University of Bradford’s ambitious AV modernisation project underscores the transformative impact of Hikvision’s advanced LED display technology, and its suitability for educational environments. Partnering with Roche AV Pro, the university addressed its somewhat outdated AV systems by introducing cutting-edge solutions across key facilities. Hikvision’s displays played a pivotal role, providing superior performance and cost-effectiveness. Notable installations include a stunning 9.6-meter-wide video wall in the Horton Barn, a multifunctional LED centrepiece in Student Central, and an immersive teaching display in the Midwifery facility.

These upgrades not only enhance educational quality and accessibility but also align with the university’s sustainability goals, demonstrating Hikvision’s ability to play a key role in delivering innovative and impactful learning environments.