Europe’s Largest LED Ceiling To Light Up Manchester’s Iconic Printworks Venue

June 14, 2022 by Dave Haynes

An old newspaper building block in Manchester, UK that was re-imagined as a multi-tenant entertainment venue is getting an upgrade with what will be the largest LED ceiling in Europe.

The entire common space ceiling inside of Printworks will be 900 sq. meters of ceiling-suspended LED – a lightweight, fire-rated set of modules/cabinets provided by ADI.TV, a solutions firm located in Preston, north of the city. The project is part of a £16million refurbishment taking place at the city center entertainment, dining and retail complex throughout 2022.

Part of the rationale is that a dynamic ceiling will make the venue more welcoming during both day and night. “The huge, multi-faceted media platform,” says PR, “will provide its diverse range of day to night audiences with unique and immersive experiences that harness mixed-reality applications, show-stopping creative and live gamification.”

It’s the first major upgrade to the venue since it opened in 1999. The project also includes:

• A 90m² interactive screen in the Pumpyard area;
• Two 112m² and 50m² screens on the outside of Printworks;
• Installation of multiple ribbon screens totalling 277 m² along the roofline of the exterior;
• Supply of a complete bespoke content management solution to power the whole platform;
• Multiple sensors and cameras throughout the venue to allow for interactive programming and gaming;
• Ongoing creation and management of bespoke creative content, with ADI working alongside Flipbook Studio in Manchester.

The suspended LED product, says ADI, is “believed to be the world’s only LED panel to meet the stringent new European Standard BSEN 13501-1 certification,” which is a fire classification.

“This ambitious digital venue transformation has three main elements to consider– Displays, Content and Control – and each presents its own challenges. The value that ADI add is our ability to help the customer consider all of these elements in the round; initially in a consultancy capacity, then to deliver the solutions, and finally to create and manage creative content,” says Drew Burrow, ADI’s head of sales. “There are other companies they could go to to provide and install LED displays; there’s other companies that offer control and content management systems; there’s other companies that can create content. But I don’t think any would be able to advise on and facilitate every element of this project in the way that ADI have.”

I’m not very familiar with ADI, but this is certainly a nice win. I am assuming the LED ceiling is semi-transparent mesh, as its uses include building facades. Much of what the company does is events and display tech for sports venues, like the ribbon boards along pro football/soccer pitches.

There are numerous digital ceilings in China malls and other big venues, but I’ve not seen that much to date outside that country … yet.

This is a concept video for the job …