Grand Central
NYC

Grand Central

We design the way commuters stay on track

Grand Central Terminal is the epitome of a thriving transportation hub. For years, GCT was the euphemism for frenzied cacophonous activity. That was before Cerami was brought in to upgrade the Audio-Visual systems as part of the Metro North Railroad Customer Service Initiative project.

With 2 million people commuting each day, the user experience needed to improve. The PA system and the giant schedule boards were not catching up to changes quickly enough. The question was how to design a new system, but keep the acoustic and visual aesthetic of this 1913 Historic Landmark.

Signature Solution: Steerable Line-Array of Speakers: To develop a PA system that could efficiently address hundreds of thousands of people daily and compensate for the challenges of maintaining existing speaker layouts and landmarked finishes, we used 3D acoustical modeling to optimize the intelligibility of announcements. Along with this upgraded system at GCT, Cerami undertook the improvements of 130 Metro-North platforms. If you miss your train, you can no longer blame it on the PA system!

Developer:

Architect:
SOM

Services Provided:
Landmarked Space
3D Acoustic Modeling
Digital Signage
Public Address System