Press
Momentum Helps HAPO Community Credit Union Light Up Kennewick, Washington With Innovative LED Display
SEATTLE, WA, (May 25, 2012) – Today Momentum, a national design-build firm announced the exciting launch of a captivating LED Display on the exterior of the new HAPO Business Complex. HAPO Community Credit Union tapped Momentum to assist with the transformation of the iconic office building in Kennewick, Washington, which sits at one of the most heavily trafficked intersections of the city. Since the unveiling on May 24th, there has been a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the Kennewick community and it has been a popular story among local media outlets. Click here to see a video of the display.
In late 2011, Steve Anderson, Chief Operating Office of HAPO saw an opportunity to acquire an iconic structure in Kennewick and reinvent the local perception of it by making bold and innovative changes. In addition to leveraging the uniqueness of the building as a branding opportunity for HAPO, Anderson was adamant about bringing the property back up to Class A lease space. He approached Momentum with whom he has partnered on several other facilities initiatives and charged them with the task to not only renovate and upgrade the interior of the facility, but also to create a remarkable presence on its exterior.
Momentum discussed several ideas with HAPO and designed several potential concepts for reinventing the building. They began by meeting with the city of Kennewick to discuss the concept and address any concerns or objections they may have had with the proposed project. With the City’s support, Momentum began searching for proven manufacturers of large outdoor dynamic media solutions. The project team at Momentum put potential vendors through a rigorous screening process and methodically evaluated the technical and financial pros and cons of each product. The team reviewed a multitude of features and functionality of each manufacturer’s product line, also weighing factors such as cost versus screen resolution and their track record of successful installations on this scale. After narrowing the field of potential manufacturers, Momentum presented Anderson with a list of four that met all of the minimum criteria for the project. Finally, a business case was prepared and presented that included a cost-benefit analysis of each solution.
HAPO and the Momentum team chose to move forward with a solution from SNA LLC, a provider of lighting solutions and digital displays throughout North America. Two-thirds of the building’s exterior will be enhanced by SNA’s S|ThruMedia, an LED video transparent display that offers the advantages of bright and dynamic video display, with a subtle transparency of a thin profile display. Covering more than 900 square feet of the façade, the display will run a mixture of static and dynamic video. In addition to being able to display visible content in direct sunlight, the transparent profile enables tenants to see out of their windows with minimal obstruction. “As we explored concepts with HAPO, we had initial concerns about the weight of such a large display as well as the potential increase in energy consumption”, explained Patrick Kirby, Project Estimator for Momentum. “The innovative technology from SNA really addressed those issues”, Kirby continued.
One of the major benefits of the SNA S|ThruMedia technology is that all of the power supplies and control equipment is located remotely inside of the building. This allows for the display to be ¼ the depth of a standard LED display, 1/3 the energy consumption, less than half the weight and it creates an easily serviceable environment for the electronics of the display. HAPO chose a horizontal pitch of 16 mm (0.63”) between pixels and decided on a spacing between strips of 48 mm (1.89”). This spacing creates over a 48 percent transparency and allows for clear views from the back of the display.
The overall resolution of the display is processed as 888 pixels wide and 379 pixels tall. There are over 1,000 LED strips located across the face of the HAPO building with over 338,000 LEDs. “This installation is truly unique in that it is the first S|ThruMedia display that has wrapped around the corner of a building. This design allows HAPO to manage the content in a creative way while having the message truly stand out in a dynamic way,” stated Jason Helton, Director of North American Products for SNA LLC.
The SNA displays work through an open ended control system and can interface with a variety of software systems. The display system software chosen to schedule and manage content was Scala, a global provider of digital display software. Scala is able to control a variety of display mediums including the S|ThruMedia display as well as LCD displays through the credit union branches.
For the fabrication and installation of the S|ThruMedia solution, Momentum and SNA LLC aligned with CRĒO Industrial Arts, a fabricator of environmental graphics and architectural signage based in Everett, Washington. In addition to performing the fabrication and installation of the display, CRĒO designed and fabricated a custom dynamic monolith that will stand prominently on the front corner of property. “The project at HAPO has provided a great opportunity to contribute to the transformation of a facility right here in our home state of Washington”, said Jeff Braaten, CRĒO’s Account Executive on the project. “Our reputation for producing high quality architectural graphics projects leads us to opportunities all across the country, but having the ability to do so a few hours from home is very exciting. We’ve enjoyed working with the entire project team, and we hope the community likes what they see.”
“It’s an amazing thing to watch as you drive by, especially at night”, says Crystal Contreras, communication director for the credit union.
CONTACT:
Michael Downs
Momentum, Inc.
206.267.1900 Phone
206.267.1901 Fax