Featured Project: LEDs Bring Visual ‘Pop’ to a University Setting

Birmingham, Alabama-based Fravert Services, a full-service design, fabrication and installation company, recently created a project for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, partnering with Nashville, Tennessee-based PixelFLEX, an LED display manufacturer and solutions provider.

The university wanted a wall display in the new, $37.5 million Collat School of Business and Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship that would acknowledge the donors and alumni that helped make the 108,000-square-foot facility possible, as well as serve as a visual centerpiece for the building’s entryway. The school contacted the design specialists at Fravert Services, who ended up installing a FLEXUltra LED video display from PixelFLEX.

“Initially, we were brought onto the project through the general contractor, and we began with a visioning session to best understand what type of environment the University wanted to create,” says Drew Fravert, project manager for Fravert Services. “Since they had been in their old facility for quite some time, they really wanted the new building to serve as a testament of success to their business and entrepreneurship programs.

The final result was a dynamic, high definition and curve-able LED display that offers a 160-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angle. According to PixelFLEX, the fully front-serviceable panels allowed for quick and easy onsite installation and maintenance.

“When we started the design process of how to incorporate the digital display into the lobby, we went through the standard rectangular concepts, but it just wasn’t representative of the innovative nature of the school,” Fravert says. “Knowing that LED video gave us the ability to be more creative, we started toying with the idea of using the individual PixelFLEX modules to create something truly interesting. Since this would not only serve as the donor wall, but also a recruiting tool for prospective students and faculty, the custom nature of the design would allow us to best demonstrate where the university is headed, and what it means to be a student at the school.”

He went on to say that integrating the display into the building required a lot of coordination among the architects, general contractor and electricians, as the design would have the FLEXUltra tiles be flush against the wall.