When Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) was looking to update, modernize and standardize their radio and television broadcast platforms, they turned to Diversified. Their goal was to bring to life a production space that drives listener loyalty through genuine, thoughtful and useful content for the community, and the final product needed to reflect careful stewardship of listener and viewer funds.
Diversified was engaged early in the project for conceptual and detail design phase. The project was a build in place, meaning OPB still needed to use their facilities while the updates were being made. This necessitated some orchestration but Diversified managed to deliver all updates while keeping everyone on air. Updated spaces include green rooms used for visitors and talent, voiceover booths, studio sound booths, radio production, sound design production, interview and control rooms, music service rooms, video editing rooms, finish edit bays and an engineering and IT shop.
A multimedia studio became the cornerstone of the new facility due to its ability to be configured to support dynamic live productions. Several audio control rooms were designed around an audio console with 32 faders and 32+ input capacity that provides seamless integration with Pro Tools. This provides multi-tracking capability and presents a standardized surface for audio control and front of house. The production control rooms were built to be incredibly adaptable, encouraging productions ranging from small, quick-turnaround projects with minimal staffing, to more complex setups with a dedicated director, TD, graphics and prompter operator. Lastly, Diversified consolidated all of OPB’s technical systems into the Tech Core. It includes three new facility-wide systems: a redesign and expansion of the existing television intercom system, as well as a KVM switching matrix and fiber backbone for signal distribution.
Not to be forgotten are the public-facing spaces. The lobby was outfitted with a large video wall for easy sign in and communication with reception personnel. Public flex spaces are used for staff meetings, presentations, volunteer events and streaming video conferences. Ultimately, the redesigned building became a highly reliable space that carries the ability to expand and scale.
