The idea of “something old, something new” inspired Hy-Vee, one of the largest employee-owned companies in the U.S., as it created the Ron Pearson Center, a new conference and event center in West Des Moines named for a former Hy-Vee CEO. Specifically the company wanted to use a modern AV system to highlight the company’s rich 87-year history.
With this in mind, the building’s lobby became an 11,000-square-foot history pavilion, designed and fabricated by Dimensional Innovations, a Kansas-based architecture and design firm. VP and creative director JC Hendricks and the Hy-Vee team agreed that the space needed some cool technology to draw people in. With six columns in the room featuring display cases with historical items, the choice of NanoLumens’ curved Nixel Series LED displays presented an opportunity to surprise guests with 360-degree displays.
“It really is a show-stopping display of artifacts, advertisements, and photographs from Hy-Vee’s nearly nine-decade history,” Hendricks said. “Using Hy-Vee’s bright color palette and some creative design ideas, we designed a space that encourages guests to walk around and learn about the company in an exciting, novel way. The NanoLumens Nixel Series LED displays play a critical role in defining the room’s overall ambience, showing how the company is looking forward while never forgetting its roots as an employee-owned grocery store.”
The columns were designed specifically to ensure the displays — which can accommodate the tight curve of a four-foot diameter column — would fit perfectly. The displays themselves feature a 5mm pixel pitch design, are two feet tall, and are positioned eight feet off the ground.
“We wanted to use every available space to capture people’s attention, and the NanoLumens Nixel Series displays were the best way to utilize the column space,” Hendricks said. “The plan was originally to outfit four of the columns with displays, but when we showed Hy-Vee a mockup of the NanoLumens 360-degree display, they immediately decided to put them on all six columns.” The Nixel Series displays are currently showing a two-hour loop of commercials and videos from the company’s past, with each column staggering the timing so visitors get to see different videos as they peruse the room.
The Nixel Series displays feature a front-serviceable design, so any maintenance can be completed quickly and easily. “As a frequently used event space, it’s important that any problems can be fixed quickly, and these displays provide peace of mind,” Hendricks said.
The Dimensional Innovations team also custom built a proprietary content management system so the on-site staff can update all the displays at once, saving time and energy when changes are needed.
