Van Damme has been involved in previous Google installs, being able to easily supply from stock tens of kilometers of cables across the world, so it was a no brainer to go with the tried and tested option again. The Van Damme cable has been attested time and time again by our customers to be incredibly easy to work with. The SHF1 thermoplastic polymer jacket allows the cable to be much more flexible and supple than traditional LSZH cable without compromising on its robustness. This, along with its full compliance with LSZH ratings, including a CPR rating of Dca, made it the best choice, beating out several European rivals. The integrator was also impressed that over 10km was available from stock in VDC’s London HQ and even more so that the cable was able to ship within days.
Moreover, another key factor was that the VDC Export team was able to provide a full fire performance declaration, test certificates and data sheets in Polish. This meant the local specifiers who were working with Google were also satisfied with the technical details of the cable and could approve it that much quicker. This resulted in a speedy wrapping up of what can inevitably be a long and overly bureaucratic process and as such saved the integrator a whole load of time.
Van Damme’s reputation often precedes itself – it also emerged that one of the specifiers was also a former employee of one of the world’s leading loudspeaker manufacturers in France, and was familiar with the fantastic audio quality that comes with the brand.
Another positive of the Van Damme was the fact that the range was expanded, meaning the cable comes with the options of either a white or black jacket. The white jacketed version of our Ecoflex LSZH speaker was introduced after much demands, where Van Damme was involved in several installations such as Westfields.
Many of our high profile installs have embraced the new modern architectural trend of airy and spacious glass fronted buildings, emphasising the interplay of light and space. The integrators were extremely pleased to have the option to take both cables as the white cable was able to blend in seamlessly where it was to be installed more prominently.
The building is due to be completed in 2022. Over 10km of Van Damme LSZH Ecoflex 2x2.5mm and 2x1.5mm Speaker Cable has been used with much more to follow before it opens.