Epson, the laser projection specialist, has provided projection solutions for a redevelopment project at Chailey Heritage Foundation in the UK.
Epson is pleased to announce that its laser projection technology has been used to help transform a hall at Chailey Heritage Foundation into a new state-of-the-art multi-purpose area. The Foundation, located in North Chailey in East Sussex, is one of the UK’s leading centres for children and young people with complex neurodisabilities.
Chailey Heritage Foundation has been operating since 1903 and educations young people aged between two-and-a-half and 19 years old, from the local community and beyond. Its goal is to give disabled young people the chance to fulfil their complete potential.
Improving its experiential offering
There are 93 students at the school, alongside 25 young adults living in its Futures Transition Service and another 150 young people from the local area using the Life Skills Centre and Hub. The charity offers several facilities, including an accessible gym, multimedia suite, kitchen and horse-riding.
This recent project transformed the centre’s dated assembly hall into a cutting-edge multi-purpose facility, offering space for sport, rebound therapy and the creative arts. Continuing its theme of using technology to give young people the best in live, the Chailey Heritage Foundation also wanted to offer an immersive 4D experience within the space.
The Dream Centre
The result of this vision is the new Dream Centre, designed by the Foundation’s architects and TEECOM, the IT project management experts. It features a built-in trampoline area for rebound therapy on one side, with a dedicated experience space on the other.
The Dream Centre has projected surfaces that function as a backdrop for the stage. To provide the right technology for a fully immersive experience, TEECOM turned to 7thSense Design, the multi-award-winning media solutions specialist.
TEECOM also chose Epson to provide technology for the project. 12 Epson EB-L1755U projectors and 11 ELPLX02 ultra-short throw lenses have been used for the visual installation. These projectors provide 15,000-lumen brightness for stand-out content at any time of day. The ‘periscope’ style lenses allow for floor-to-ceiling displays without offsetting any of the content.
Blair Parkin, Principal, EVP, TEECOM says, “The new Dream Centre was designed to enable young people to take control of their environment, create the audio and visual effects they want, and explore their feelings and dreams through the medium of sound and light.
“To achieve these effects, TEECOM chose an Epson EB-L1505UH 12K lumen WUXGA laser projector with 5.1 channel audio system. A further ten Epson EB-L1505UH projectors are located around the stage areas, projecting onto the walls in a carefully designed display configuration with ultra-short throw lenses.”
An immersive experience
Content Developer for Chailey Heritage Foundation Mark Elms, says: “The Dream Centre’s immersive space is astonishing. We are now able to provide an incredibly wide range of new experiences for the children and young people here at Chailey Heritage Foundation.
“The response from the young people has been overwhelmingly positive, with new requests for content coming every day. We really couldn’t be happier with the final product.”
Sally-Anne Murray, Development Director at Chailey Heritage Foundation, said: “The immersive 4D experience transports young people who can’t fly to the other side of the world, brings them underwater to swim with fishes, takes them to Egypt to see the pyramids and allows their imagination to take over.
“The Dream Centre has become a focal part of our facilities and the youngsters and their families always leave smiling.”
Earlier this year, Epson released a new research report, The Experiential Future, which explores what consumers think about immersive experiences.
