The best part is, until you see it in action, you don’t even know it’s there. Michael Parrella and Edward Arenius of ARUP alongside Andy Morgan from Morgan Acoustics designed Glasshouses’ new venue, The Glasshouse ‘ s audiovisual capabilities to have a big impact on its client’s events while hiding in the venue’s impressive architecture. “What appealed to us as a project was the flexible nature,” says Arenius. “To have the ability to do something as simple as a banquet all the way up to very cutting-edge, technically-oriented product launches in one space is extremely attractive.”

Event venues are often limited to repurposed or found spaces, resulting in competing audiovisual systems and architecture. But with The Glasshouse, it’s the opposite. “This was a real effort to make the architecture and the systems work together from the beginning,” says Morgan. ARUP and Morgan are theater specialists, having worked on projects including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Barclays Center, and the new Madison Square Garden in London. It’s an unusual move for an events space to bring such technical expertise, but Glasshouses partners Jack Guttman and Alex Holiday knew that they wanted built-in capabilities to execute whatever extravaganza designers can dream up.

For example, hidden rigging points throughout and architectural lighting are just the starting point. Inspired by a sculpture in Singapore’s Changi airport, 49 modern LED RBGW chandeliers hang on winches in the venue’s 40 foot pop-up ceiling.  For most events, these chandeliers can be programmed to variable heights when a more spacious and dimensional room is desired, and lower for an intimate feel. For more high impact events, these winches can be programmed to perform dramatic light shows with kinetic effects and physical patterns using other design elements. However, if they’re not needed, they virtually disappear, blending into the venue’s interior design. “How the height is revealed could be very fun,” says Morgan. “The lighting suddenly rises up, and nobody realized it’s a dance floor.”

Additionally, every light in the main event space — chandeliers, elegant recessed lighting, and cove lighting —  boasts programmable color-changing capability. Switching color is just another tool to personalize your event, altering the mood of the room in an instant. For example, the whole room can be blue for Pepsi one day, and pink for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation the next. “Typically it’s just the lighting on the stage that changes color,” says Morgan. “Here you can actually create atmospheric mood lighting for the audience as well.” It’s a handy audiovisual tool to pull the guests into whatever’s happening on stage for a more immersive experience. Meanwhile, the CEOs and talent relaxing in the venue’s ancillary spaces, such as the VIP lounge or the green rooms, can stay abreast on event happenings in the front of house. Additionally, each lounge is equipped with live-streaming capabilities, ensuring no one will miss their entrance.

Because everything is built-in, there is no need to bring in bulky lighting or speaker stands. “The Glasshouse has everything you’d need to do a high quality sound experiences and musical performances,” says Morgan. “The elimination of additional rental equipment, transportation, and labor required for one-time installs saves The Glasshouse’s clients time and money while providing guests with a drastically elevated experience.  It’s not just the new standard, it’s state of the art.” Additionally, The Glasshouse’s designers and installers have tuned the system to the space using the architecture to aide in the overall acoustic experience, control loudness and reverberation, and promote clarity.

The schedule of an events venue is unpredictable; one day there can be a wedding , and the next day a   non-profit fundraiser . However, The Glasshouse can facilitate many desired configurations. For example, the stage can be set up in multiple places, with networked audio speakers; TVs can be neatly hung from the ceiling.

Columns equipped with an IT network, audiovisual connections, and power, eliminate unsightly cords that would run over long distances across the floor. High speed, burstable internet bandwith capabilities. A conduit for cable routing to broadcast trucks parked on the street. An extra power provision capable of running shows, 50 pinball machines, or thousands of VR headsets enable clients to dream big, rather than working around the venue’s limitations. Audiovisual equipment is built-in and programmable, therefore less supervision is needed on the event space floor. Moreover, equipment can be controlled from an out-of-the-way production room on the fifth floor. Finally, the massive freight elevator allows for efficient loading, a luxury not available in most of the city’s other venues.

The infrastructure is all there, for whatever can be dreamed up. Consecutive runway fashion shows , completely different for each designer? No problem. Bring in tons of décor or strip the space bare, as the venue comes with its own gorgeous backdrop of the Hudson. “You have this skyline view, which feels really iconic, plus the ability to do something that’s really dynamite and memorable technically,” says Morgan.

Connect lighting, sound, and rigging effects throughout the entire space to create a haunted house with multiple horror-tastic rooms. Or go for the most extravagant bar/bat mitzvah the city has ever seen, blue-roomed and winter-themed with a huge dynamic ski-slope set for a concert by the latest Billboard-charting pop star. With the most sophisticated events audiovisual system in the city, the possibilities are endless.

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