Coblonal Interior Design

The Challenge

Coblonal Interior Design (Barcelona, Spain) is an architecture, interior design, and construction studio which has for over 24 years provided project and construction services for both residential and commercial areas. In 2019, Coblonal moved to a new, larger, and centralized space in Plaza Tetuán. The office was designed as an open space with different areas for the team and a collaborative reception area for clients and visitors. Pyme Tech Adviser, an AV installation company, and Charmex Internacional, S.A., a distributor of AV technology, recommended they incorporate dynamic and interactive display technology to better support team and client meetings. Joan Llongueras, founding partner, co-owner, and Creative Director of Coblonal commented, “Before we used a large television as a computer monitor. It was located next to the entrance of the studio and exposed to passersby. This meant the tv could not always be used, depending on the type of information to be processed.”

Coblonal chose to incorporate the cutting-edge UX Pro interactive display by Clevertouch Technologies, which provides dynamic and multifunctional features that are well-suited to the needs of the design studio. They installed the UX Pro displays in their showroom and meeting room to enhance project presentations and convey messaging for highly complex jobs in an improved and more dynamic way.

Key Solutions

“We use the UX Pro screen to show clients project details, add comments and modifications on the spot. It is available to the entire team for their meetings, with collaborators and with clients, the latter being the priority,” stated Llongueras.

A common practice for the Coblonal team is to use the “huddle bench” beneath the mezzanine - an area designed to inspire colleagues and present projects to clients. In this space, team members share plans and visualizations of a project, review samples, and make compositions of finishes. This space now includes the 75” UX Pro which has provided them opportunities to collaborate through creative processes with its enhanced suite of features and tools.

“We see how dynamic and interactive the display is - it allows us to make modifications and annotations to drawings or plans in the moment, and instantly present various options to clients and collaborators. The images and renderings are displayed in unbeatable conditions so presentations no longer need to be printed. Lluís Sala, from PymeTech, offered us all the necessary guidance to get started and the rest we learned on our own. Its use is very intuitive,” said Llongueras.​​​​​​​

After a training on the basics of the UX Pro, the Coblonal team was able to facilitate more effective meetings. They use LYNX Whiteboard, a free software included with the display, to collaborate and annotate their highly complex renders and plans. LYNX Whiteboard includes a large selection of pens, which are pressure and speed sensitive to help denote the thickness of the line as the user writes on the display. In combination with Super Glide Touch technology, making annotations and notes on plans feel like writing with a real pen.

LYNX Whiteboard has a functionality where several separate layers are managed which is very useful for professionals who work with plans and are used to using programs such as Autocad or Photoshop. It’s as simple as importing the file and “moving it to the background” (the back layer) to start making annotations without altering the plan or sketch. Afterwards, the notes can be passed to the back layer so everything is in the same file.

Another useful function of the UX Pro display and the LYNX Whiteboard is that users can search the internet directly from LYNX without having to leave the software, and import content into plans and presentations. Collaborators can select from Bing images, YouTube videos, GIFs, etc. and simply drag and drop onto the render. Or collaborators can search Google through the browser panel which allows for opening web pages on the Lynx Whiteboard. The client and/or supplier can get involved in the modifications of the proposal. LYNX Whiteboard has been very useful because it is cloud based. Therefore, everyone can leave the meeting with the notes on personal devices.

Benefits

Initially after the installation of the UX Pro interactive displays, the team thought they would only be used for customers. They soon discovered that the UX Pro was the ideal solution for meetings with suppliers and collaborators where representatives from the project, budget, and construction teams meet. They’ve also used UX Pro for hybrid meetings, utilizing the video conferencing apps to hold virtual meetings.

The new work dynamics at Coblonal because of the integration of the Clevertouch UX Pro include, but are not limited to: Importing an interior design render onto the digital canvas, Capturing the team’s ideas on top of plans and renders,  and Adding images of the elements that will be changed during the definition and development of the project, making it even more realistic.

In the future, Coblonal would like to add ‘virtual reality’ features to their design meetings. Llongueras commented, “We are discussing the possibility that our clients can enjoy a virtual tour of their new home in 3D, going one step beyond the 2D plans and static images in 3D. We believe that the Clevertouch interactive display can be the ideal support.”

We are excited about helping bring their amazing designs to life with the Clevertouch UX Pro interactive display. We look forward to a continued working relationship with Coblonal Interior Design with support of our partner, Charmex AV Technology.

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We are excited about helping bring their amazing designs to life with the Clevertouch UX Pro interactive display. We look forward to a continued working relationship with Coblonal Interior Design with the support of our partner, Charmex AV Technology.