Our schematic design services represent a process of interview, recommendation and determination of the technology requirements for a construction or renovation project. The deliverable result of this three-step process provides a mostly non-technical narrative description where the overall project is defined by various spaces, venues and facilities that will be included within the construction or renovation project and then identifies the technology infrastructure, solutions and scope of work that will be required to fulfill those technology equipment spaces, venues and facilities. The schematic design presentation typically includes generic descriptions, approximate quantities of the various technology components required to fulfill the identified requirements as well as overall budget estimates for each of the defined spaces, venues and facilities.

Our design development services are provided in the form of engineered drawings developed in conjunction with the project architect’s plan, section and elevations details with all technology infrastructure, cabling, electrical power, mechanical and physical requirements for each and every technology device that has been included within our scope of responsibility and will be implemented in the project are integrated into, and coordinated with the project’s architectural plans including the preparation of a technology specific drawing set that includes the following:

• Technology Devices in Floor Plan
• Technology Devices in Ceiling Plan
• Technology Devices in Building/Room Section
• Technology Devices in Building/Room Elevation
• Device Legends and Related Details

The information provided within these documents is presented within an extremely efficient, unique and standardized format developed by the firm in 1998 and successfully implemented throughout hundreds of overall projects and thousands of subsystem projects since that time.

Our construction document services are provided in the form of fully engineered technology system drawings where each and every technology related device that has been included within our scope of responsibility and will be implemented in the project is presented within the following engineered drawing formats:

• Audio System Single Line Diagrams
• Video System Single Line Diagrams
• Network & Control Single Line Diagrams
• Horizontal Cabling Single Line Diagrams
• Fiber Optic Infrastructure Single Line Diagrams
• Interconnection Plate, Panel and Patch Bay Detail Sheets
• Equipment Rack Elevations and Plans

Our construction document services also include the preparation and publication of detailed specification documents clearly defining the covered scope of work, general conditions, quality assurance, design intent, performance and material requirements for each of the covered technology systems.

KMK’s construction document deliverables for audio video and related technology projects are routinely recognized by systems integrators, custom fabricators, manufacturers, engineers, consultants and others who have encountered them, as best-in-class construction documents. Clear presentation of infrastructure, scope, design intent coupled with a detailed definition of quality assurance practices, provide significant value to the projects and clients that we serve.

Our construction administration services cover administrative services and technical support required to support a construction or renovation project once physical construction has begun through the owner’s occupancy and initial use of the covered technology systems. Our obligations and responsibilities within these services typically include the following:

• Review of contractor proposals.
• Recommendation of contractor award.
• Review, reply and recommendations with respect contractor requests for information.
• Review, reply and recommendations with respect to contractor requests for change orders.
• Participation in conference calls, email communications and telephone support.
• Participation in a specified number of site visits, walk-throughs and meetings.
• Review, comment and reply to contractor shop drawings and related submittals.
• On-site review of system installation.
• Confirmation of compliance with construction documents.

This service capability applies and expanded role professional services that includes day-to-day project management and oversight of the procurement, implementation, programming and labor typically associated with a technology integration contractor.

Opportunities to provide integration management services are generally limited due to the reduced margins afforded within the system integration market. The company has however successfully coupled our engineering methods with an extensive background in system integration to form project specific, integration partnerships where the company provides project management, site supervision, control system programming, DSP programming, commissioning and related services for select, large scale system integration projects.

As implied above, our resume of projects where our integration management services have been provided is limited. That resume however, includes three major casino hotel construction projects with technology system investments of $3,000,000.00 to $8,000,000.00, a $4,500,000.00 Pennsylvania Department of General Services Courthouse project and a sophisticated $2,500,000.00 customer experience center for a major automotive manufacturer and other projects with technology investments ranging from $190,000.00 to $750,000.00.

KMK serves as consultant in architectural acoustics to architects, engineers and owners under-taking new construction  and renovation projects. The firm’s expertise relates to matters of scale, sitting and adjacencies; construction systems and methods; materials and finishes; performance standards; and quality checkpoints. Working directly with the design team, we present our recommendations in conferences, letter-reports and drawings. In unusual projects, computer modeling and auralization studies can  be used to assist in the analysis of acoustic behavior of varying design options.

Our checkpoints include review of drawings and specifications at all phases of project design, review of shop drawings and appropriate submittals during construction, and performance of final tests and adjustments in completed projects.

Room Acoustics:

We advise on room sizes, shapes and finishes appropriate to distribute sound uniformly, control echoes, and permit proper reverberation time,  frequency balance, and  early-to-reverberant sound ratios.

Sound Isolation:

We recommend materials and methods to prevent sound transmission through adjacent spaces and to exclude environmental noise (from transit systems, aircraft, factories,  etc.).

Noise and Vibration Control:

We offer design guidelines and recommendations in the methods of controlling airborne noise, structure-borne noise and vibration from mechanical and electrical equipment and HVAC   systems.

Electroacoustics:

The firm has un-paralleled success with regard to sound reinforcement quality within reverberant spaces. Our single point of responsibility for both electronic sound reinforcement and architectural acoustics can be significantly important to performing arts facility design, as well as other projects where intelligibility and fidelity are fundamentally important to the success of the project.