Earlier this month, the DDMC conducted an AV focused walking tour of the newly-constructed West Union building on Duke’s campus. West Union consists of a mix of traditional spaces (meeting and event sites, collaborative spaces, presentation spots) and a few spaces that are unique to Duke’s campus, such as the Chef’s Kitchen and the Devil’s Krafthouse. The session began with a project overview led by Wes Newman, Principal at Kontek (the AV integrator) with input from Chuck Catotti, Senior Director, Event Management at Duke University. Wes and Chuck detailed a number of design considerations they faced during the design and installation phase of the project.
After the project overview, the group toured the building exploring the various meeting and collaborative spaces. A highlight of the tour was visiting the Chef’s Kitchen, a unique dining, teaching and learning venue that blends a commercial restaurant kitchen with a TV studio. Able to capture, record and stream sessions using a Blackmagic Design ATEM Production Studio in combination with traditional and point-of-view cameras (Marshall CV-502-M) makes this a on-of-a-kind addition to campus.
The tour wrapped up with a visit to the Devil’s Krafthouse, a new pub on the ground floor of West Union. This venue blends a modern entertainment space with old-Durham charm. Designed to accommodate live bands, this space is sure to be a popular hangout for Duke vs. UNC games.
