Novus International Headquarters, St. Charles, Mo.
Feb 16, 2010 12:00 PM
Green Innovation
Novus International creates innovative animal health and nutrition solutions for livestock and companion animals worldwide, with clients in more than 80 countries. In 2008, the company built a new, 4,200-square-meter, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-certified international headquarters in St. Charles, Mo., with state-of-the-art design and structural features that accord with the company’s forward-looking approach to science, agriculture, and business.
For this new headquarters, Novus sought to create a visual representation of its corporate identity both to introduce itself to customers, partners, and to serve as a touchstone for employees. To that end, the corporation implemented a high-impact digital videowall that further serves as an eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing design element of its headquarters. Novus also implemented a smaller digital sign at the entrance most commonly used by employees to provide constantly updated information that is helpful to them, such as traffic and weather reports, fitness center hours, menus for the cafeteria, and even Cardinals baseball scores.
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In February, 2009, Novus approached systems integrator Innovative Technology Group (ITG) of St. Louis, Mo., and X2O Media to develop a digital signage system for prominent placement in a glass-walled hall near the main entry. The impressive digital signage wall consists of nine 46in. flatpanel monitors, arrayed three-by-three in landscape mode. The image’s configuration is flexible with the initial arrangement being in the shape of an L. The three monitors on the left and three on the bottom create fields to display stock and commodities quotes, international weather conditions, industry news, and Novus’ product logos. The remaining four monitors, which form a square, are integrated to display the still images from the countries where Novus operates, and video footage from recent events inside and outside the United States.
Seeing the digital videowall at Novus’s headquarters, clients, customers, and other visitors experience a visual representation of the full spectrum of Novus’ corporate identity. With its continual updates of information from a wide variety of sources that intersect Novus’ operation, the wall also serves as an implicit reminder of the reach and dynamism of the work Novus does.
Novus International deployed X2O Media’s Xpresenter digital signage platform to create and distribute content to displays in HD 1080p over Cat-6. The display in the entrance area is deployed over a wall of nine 46in. Samsung monitors. It is the largest digital wall display of its kind ITG has implemented thus far.
One Xpresenter Player drives four of the screens and another drives five of the screens. The Xpresenter system allows these two players to work in parallel, driving content to the screens that appear seamless to the viewer. The inhouse communications staff is able to easily manage and update the content in realtime.
X2O’s creative team designed the various graphics and templates used in the videowall. Because the two digital installations are located in a LEED-certified green building, they are operated according to an automated schedule that turns them on only during work hours.
There were challenges relating to the physical wall itself which were resolved by ITG in terms of improving the means by which the monitors were anchored to it. Also challenging was achieving consensus among Novus team members with regards to the information that ought to be included in the displays, as well as the graphic configuration of the digital wall itself. These were resolved, in part, by the X2O platform, because it allows changes, revisions, and updates to be made easily. ITG performed the configuration of the digital signage system, which integrated easily with Novus’s own IT system and can be maintained remotely via web browser.
