Philadelphia’s uCity Square will become the new hub of research and innovation as Drexel University partners with Wexford Science + Technology to develop a new academic tower that will bring students, academics, experts and entrepreneurs alike to foster ideas and spur innovation. The interdisciplinary facility will consolidate Drexel’s research and education programs under one roof and be home to the College of Nursing and Health Profession, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies, and the College of Medicine.

To support this innovative environment, our team designed flexible spaces that incorporate state-of-the-art AV technology with interactive capabilities and collaborative tools to accommodate different kinds of usage and facilitate interaction within the campus community.

Signature Solution: In this new generation where students are used to consuming media and digital information electronically, students seek for more meaningful and immersive experiences in their education. We aim to enhance learner experience through a combination of a thoughtfully designed space and seamless technology.

Active learning spaces were furnished with 4K video displays, ceiling mounted dual projectors and projection screens, and digital panels with touch-screen capabilities that enable students and instructors to easily share content and information with each other. Conference and seminar rooms were configured with cameras and video conferencing capabilities to facilitate flawless collaboration and pres¬entation.

Digital signage and interactive videowalls that stream information and current events line the halls and public spaces to keep students, researchers, and guests connected and engaged with each other throughout their time in the campus.

As the largest research facility within the Medical Center, the 16-story building accommodates up to 800 researchers, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and support staff. The ground floor, lobby and communal spaces on 10 research floors will help draw people together – the overall goal of this prominent new gateway to research and education. To that end, Cerami helped facilitate connections by setting the stage for a curative atmosphere with acoustics that bring a sense of cohesiveness. We set out from the onset to create spaces that are adaptable and resilient to future growth, knowing that reconfiguration is common in research facilities.

Signature Solution: Langone’s Science Building required sensitive vibration monitoring throughout the 365,000 square feet to meet specific requirements. Sensitive is the operative word here, when even the slightest vibrations that are seemingly unperceivable to humans can affect the research quality by disrupting equipment processes or measurement accuracy.

For over 25 years, Deerfield has dedicated its cause to advancing healthcare through information, investment, and philanthropy. To further their mission, Deerfield sought to build an innovation campus at 345 Park Avenue South that will serve as the premier destination for the Life Sciences Community in New York City.

Also known as CURE, the campus is an 11-floor office and lab-ready space designed to bring together scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and leading organizations from around the world to develop treatments and better ways to prevent and eliminate deadly diseases. Cerami was engaged as the acoustical and audiovisual consultant to help design a balanced ecosystem for their laboratories, engineering and computing space, amenities, and supportive services.

Signature Solution: Creating a quiet and stable environment that fosters innovation is paramount to life science facilities. We helped accomplish this through careful consideration of partition constructions and finishes for the lab and office spaces. Isolation of the kitchen and fitness center was also critical to ensure activities taking place in these spaces would not be disruptive to neighboring areas. We further maximized the acoustical performance of these spaces by minimizing the impact of noise transmission generated by building mechanical system and emergency generator.

Shared amenities and dedicated social spaces were designed to encourage collaboration and bring innovators together. Small conference and huddle rooms were set up with cameras and video conferencing capabilities, while large conferencing rooms were equipped with advanced tracking camera systems, a feature that enables cameras to automatically track and zoom in to whomever is speaking.

Furnished with ceiling mounted projectors and ceiling cameras, the general assembly space allows for video conferencing and streaming of events. The space is flexible and reconfigurable so users can easily connect to the AV systems and displays regardless of how the room was arranged.

The 13th floor event space was designed to accommodate a range of special events and can be transformed into a dining room, auditorium, training center, boardroom, or even a lounge! It features three 110” diagonal high-tech direct view LED video walls that can operate independently while being supported by wireless mics and ceiling speakers for flawless presentation.

Vibration monitoring is of utmost importance in laboratories and vivariums (life science labs where animals are kept for observational research), where even slight variables in movement can affect research results and render clinical trials moot. In this case, a hospital in NYC was concerned about ongoing construction on a nearby wing and wanted to know if they should relocate.

Signature Solution: Measuring movements from vibrations in inches per second, with the magic number being .01/inch per second, we were able to determine that there was no need to move the animals housed in the vivarium to another location. We tracked the vibrations for three months, on a live Cerami proprietary site, to ensure that the established levels weren’t exceeded. Often our assessment goes into permanent record along with lab results.