Audiovisual Technology Utrecht

Audiovisual technology in Utrecht by HuurAV

Utrecht lies at the junction of the Dutch rail and road network, and you can tell from the city’s calendar. Visitors come from everywhere, which makes the place a favourite for conferences, knowledge sessions and trade fairs that would otherwise be hard to organise centrally. HuurAV works out of Amsterdam and covers the roughly forty kilometres via the A2 to deliver the full audiovisual package here. We take on the entire process: the technical design, the setup, the operation during the programme and the breakdown afterwards. A technician stays on site the whole time, so there is always someone at the controls who knows the setup inside out.

The city has striking contrasts in its spaces. Around the exhibition grounds and on the outskirts there are halls with plenty of volume and high ceilings, while the city centre offers rooms in old buildings and along the canals. That difference shapes everything, from the number of speakers to the way we route truss and cables out of sight.

Events that take place in Utrecht

Its central location makes Utrecht very much a business city. We handle plenty of presentations and conferences here, where hundreds of visitors need to hear a speaker clearly and see the slides sharply all the way to the back of the room. We also regularly run corporate events such as product launches, knowledge days and client gatherings. Utrecht is a student city too, with a lively party culture, so parties and company parties are just as much on the schedule, and occasionally a wedding at an atmospheric canal-side venue. Anyone who also wants to involve people remotely increasingly opts for hybrid events and livestreams.

Venues and buildings in and around Utrecht

We work in a wide range of places: the large conference and exhibition halls on the edge of the city, modern office and event venues in newer districts, and the more intimate rooms, churches and canal houses in the centre. Each type calls for its own approach. A spacious hall needs sound pressure and a well-considered lighting plan to fill the emptiness, while an old building on a canal demands attention to power capacity, the acoustics of hard walls and limited access for vehicles. We map out these points beforehand and build them into the technical plan, including extra power distribution where needed.

Frequently requested AV solutions

Most productions in Utrecht combine several disciplines into a seamless whole of sound, lighting and video, rounded off with special effects at the moments that make a programme peak.

• Sound: line-array or compact speaker sets, wireless handheld and headset microphones and monitoring for speakers, panels or a band, with a technician at the desk.
• Lighting: stage and ambient lighting, control that follows the programme and accent light that creates a crisp business look or a festive atmosphere.
• Video: large screens, projection and cameras with video direction, suitable for keynotes, breakout sessions, aftermovies and livestreams.
• Special effects: haze, low fog and confetti for an opening, a reveal or a festive highlight.

Accessibility, setup and breakdown

The trip of roughly forty kilometres along the A2 is easily done, though the Utrecht ring road can fill up at peak times. We take that into account when planning the journey. The large halls on the outskirts are often easy to reach by truck and have good loading and unloading facilities. The city centre is a different matter: there, loading and unloading windows apply, streets are narrow and the canals play a role in the access route. We coordinate these points in advance, including any permits. We schedule the setup well before the start, test all the technology thoroughly and keep a technician on site throughout the event for operation and supervision. Afterwards comes a tidy and swift breakdown, even when it falls late in the evening.

View our work and request a proposal

If you would like an impression of earlier productions, take a look at our portfolio of completed work. If you have a specific event in Utrecht in mind, we are happy to think along about the approach that suits your venue and programme. Request a quote without obligation; after a short assessment you will receive a tailored proposal, with no strings attached.