The client
GPT Space&Co redefines shared flex environments with curated, flexible spaces that foster community and business growth. They stand apart with The GPT Group’s 55+ years of expertise. In 2024, they expanded their portfolio with four new premium A-Grade locations nationwide, including 181 William Street, Melbourne.
GPT Space&Co 181 William St offers an exclusive, on-demand meeting room service. Unlike traditional coworking spaces, it focuses solely on meeting rooms and event spaces, allowing businesses to avoid the costs of maintaining their own.
The challenge
Camden Webb is The GPT Group’s Flexible Workspace Technology Manager and has seen the rollout of 11 GPT Space&Co locations. It’s been a journey of improvement – making the technology work better for his clients and for GPT. The key bases that need to be hit: the tech needs to be as invisible and as frictionless as possible for customers, and as flexible and easy to manage as possible for GPT.
Camden Webb: “From a technology perspective, flexibility was a key focus, especially for the larger rooms. Traditionally, when AV equipment is placed on or under tables, it limits how the furniture – and, consequently, the space – can be used. We designed the 181 William St rooms to function seamlessly while allowing for that flexibility. Whether the room is set up in theatre style, boardroom style, or workshop style, users still receive the same high-quality experience.
“This is where the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling microphones play a crucial role. The TeamConnect Ceiling Solutions ensure that no matter where someone is located, they can be heard clearly – remote participants can follow discussions and feel engaged, even if they are not physically present. We have used Sennheiser microphones in previous projects, and they have consistently performed well.”
The solution
GPT Space&Co 181 William St offers six larger and/or reconfigurable spaces catering for meetings, workshops and events, all of which feature TeamConnect Ceiling solutions.
“The Sennheiser microphones provide comprehensive coverage for these larger rooms,” confirms Anthony Aloi, Project Manager for AV integration firm, Programmed. “Alternatively, fixed microphones restrict modularity and limit how a space can be configured.”
Camden Webb contributes: “Ceiling-mounted microphones ensure that the sound is captured consistently, regardless of how the space is arranged. Additionally, the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling solution provides a high level of control over the microphones’ pickup, allowing adjustments that minimise background noise.”
Another consideration, as Anthony points out, is in how Sennheiser’s TeamConnect Ceiling microphones interface with AI-driven tools such as Microsoft Co-Pilot, helping to optimise the usage of the GPT spaces, providing automated summaries, intelligent insights, and streamlined collaboration, effectively enhancing the meeting experiences for Space&Co’s customers.
The Chamber room and the Judge boardroom are one of the first in the region to feature the Sennheiser TCC M.
“There were a few reasons for specifying the TCC M over the TCC 2 in this case,” explains Anthony Aloi. “Combining three TCC Ms gave us great coverage of the unusual geometry of the space while allowing our team to program ‘exclusion zones’ into the coverage to minimise street noise.
“The price was also a big consideration. The TCC M is more cost effective than the TCC 2 without sacrificing too much in performance. So, in this case, three TCC Ms was still more cost effective than two TCC 2s.
“Finally, they look amazing and really suit the space aesthetically. The fact we managed to colour match the look of the units takes the integration to another level.”
Beyond 181 William St, the Sennheiser TCC 2 microphones are also deployed in Space&Co’s Darling Park location in Sydney and One One One Eagle Street location in Brisbane.
The result
Businesses and government have been frantically rolling out MTRs, and we’ve all been on an easy-of-use journey. The ideal is for staff to book a room, launch a meeting and have an exceptional experience, with Teams at the core.
GPT Space&Co’s shared flex environments have a different ease-of-use mountain to climb. It’s not possible to train staff – every user is a guest.
Anthony Aloi: “These rooms are designed to be as intuitive as possible and to function across a variety of computer types and systems.”
Camden Webb: “We have a full-time manager at 181 William St but their role is a customer-facing one, not a technical one. So it’s imperative that these meeting rooms and event spaces require as little hand holding as possible.
“The seamless integration of the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling microphones was a key focus of this project. They’re certainly part of the ease of use, ‘it’s just got to work’ philosophy, and user feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”
