KAIRO, EGYPT

Arab League

Integration of a modern conference system into the existing architecture

Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt

In 1945, the Arab League was founded in Cairo – 10 years later, the headquarters were established. In 2015, the building on Tahrir Square was renovated. Subsequently, our partner “Quality Egypt” was commissioned in 2019 to renew and modernise the building’s technology, taking into account the architecture and interior design.

Initial situation

The main hall as well as meeting rooms of different sizes (small, medium and large) should be equipped with new, modern technology.
Among other things, an audio system, a conference system, an interpreting system and a video system were to be installed.
The building was renovated in 2015, preserving the original architecture and interior design. The new technology had to be adapted to these conditions – new cable routes could not be laid, for example.
The participants/speakers of the Arab League are usually composed of high-ranking persons from the member states: ministers, presidents, princes and kings – good encryption should therefore be in place.

The details

Quality Egypt had previously worked on the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo and was therefore able to start directly with the work in hand and implement the wishes and requirements of the client.

Integration of modern technology into the existing architecture

„We had to modernise the main hall, to install cutting-edge technology. The other details were around how to integrate our technology within the interior and the fitout design that the client, consultant and architects were very strict about,” says Mohamed Attia, managing director, Quality Egypt. The architect in question was Nada Debs, her design preserved historically relevant features such as the scriptures above the main stage, and the intricate wooden wall panels. The central circle of the hall, the focal point of the assembly, has been updated with a beautiful pattern inspired by Arabesque geometry.

This project was a true case of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ as everything in the main hall was to be replaced, apart from one very old piece of marble in the middle of the circular main hall. With such a big AV remit (the budget for the AV kit was $1.2m), it was no surprise this project spanned a three-year period. Quality was first contracted in August 2019, it then spent six months planning the installation, before finishing the installation in mid-2020, with final handover taking place in 2021, when other parts of the renovation were completed.

Multimedia conference units from Brähler Systems

The centrepiece of the main hall, if we can take aside the stunning architecture for one moment that is, from a technological point of view anyway, is the Brähler conference system, which was the first of its kind to be installed in Egypt. The inner circle of the main hall features one seat for every Arab League country (22). Each position is home to Brähler SMic 133 chairman/delegate multimedia unit. Each seat features a 13-in full HD touch display which allows attendees to view relevant documents and vote. Each position also features a gooseneck mic and headphones for audio interpretation. Only those in the inner circle have the power to vote in sessions.

Simultaneous interpreting system INFRACOM

Alongside those are more than 300 Brähler Digimic delegate units, which feature a digital channel selector unit for up to 32 channels, with channel selection and volume control keys, all on an LCD display. Three Brähler CSX4 digital language distribution amplifiers make sure every position is covered for interpretation. The main hall can seat 488 in total.

“One of the main features is its very high encryption used by the manufacturer. Because each one of the high profile attendees could be presidents or kings or princes, they have a delegation behind them, they also have to have different features and tools to be able to connect,” explains Attia.

Parts of the text have been taken with the kind permission of the author from the case study on the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo, published in the magazine Inavate, issue 1/2023 – you can read the entire case study HERE on the Inavate website.