Comprehensive AV upgrade includes the largest LED deployment in an Australian hotel ballroom. Photo render for illustrative purposes. Photo Credit: AVPartners
The Fullerton Hotel Sydney has become the first hotel in the city to replace projectors and portable screens entirely with LED technology across its event spaces.
The move forms part of a multi-million-dollar audiovisual upgrade that will be rolled out from 1 September as part of a partnership with AVPartners.
LED maxing for smoother run sheets
When the upgrades are complete, the hotel’s key event space, the Grand Ballroom, will feature 205sqm of LED displays across all four walls.
This will be the largest LED deployment in a hotel ballroom in Australia. A 33m-by-4m modular ultra-wide LED screen mounted on a track will allow the space to be reconfigured for different event formats, from plenary sessions and breakouts to gala dinners.
Supporting the centre canvas, two motorised 7.2m × 2.4m LED displays sit on the side walls. Four fixed 4.2m × 2.4m LED reference screens are integrated into the rear wall, replacing traditional floor-mounted delay TVs and removing the need for hire screens on dinner-service nights.
The upgrade reflects a growing move among venues to build production capabilities directly into event spaces rather than relying on temporary equipment brought in by third parties.
According to AVPartners, the permanent infrastructure will enable organisers to transition between multiple event formats in a single day without the need for extensive rigging, bump-ins or equipment resets.
“The flexibility of this installation changes what a single event day can look like. We can run a plenary session in the Grand Ballroom in the morning, split the room into separate meeting spaces over morning tea, reset for lunch, hold breakouts through the afternoon, and reconfigure for a gala dinner that night, all in the same room. Three or four event formats [can flow] in one space, with no rigging schedule and setting up and packing down,” said Andrew Hackett, managing partner, AVPartners.
Two motorised 3.6m × 2.2m LED screens will be added to The Heritage Ballroom. Photo render for illustrative purposes. Photo Credit: AV PartnersProperty-wide upgrades
Over in The Heritage Ballroom, beneath an 11-metre dome ceiling with circular antique windows, two motorised 3.6m × 2.2m LED screens will be added, with the option to be combined into a single ultra-wide canvas.
The pillarless The Barnet Room will also receive two mobile 3m × 1.7m LED screens, which can be joined into a single canvas.
Meeting rooms throughout the property will also transition to permanent wall-mounted LED screens.
More than screens
Apart from LED displays, the investment includes AI-powered presenter-tracking cameras, 4K vision processing delivered via a venue-wide fibre network, upgraded lighting and audio systems, and integrated livestreaming capabilities. Event organisers will also have access to touchscreen room controls that connect directly with both AV and banqueting teams, streamlining event management on-site.
“For hybrid and broadcast formats, AI tracking cameras follow presenters as they move. 4K vision processing handles the production. Live streaming infrastructure is built in. The Grand Ballroom can host an audience of 1,000 in the room and a digital audience of any size beyond it, on the same fit-out as the in-person event,” the company said in a statement.
Beyond the comprehensive hardware, the partnership with AVPartners also gives planners access to technical expertise on property. The company’s ten-person on-site at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney comprises: one partner, two associates, two technical event managers, one technical director, and four AV technicians.
New tech era for heritage landmark
At The Fullerton Hotel Sydney, which hosts more than 600 events annually, the upgrade positions the heritage-listed GPO property at the forefront of a growing industry shift.
“I was part of the team that opened this property [first as a Westin] in 2000. Twenty-five years on, the Grand Ballroom remains one of Sydney’s most significant event spaces and is now redefined with the technology to match,” said Teresa Amey, area partner NSW, AVPartners, who described the upgrade as the “most sophisticated permanent AV installation of any hotel ballroom in Australia”.