Before you invest millions in a smart campus, get the blueprint right.
We've spent the last 15 years working with universities on complex campus technology programs. Our fixed-price discovery process helps avoid poor scoping and de-risks decisions before major budgets are committed.
See Packages & PricingHow We De-Risk Smart Campus Projects
Co-founders Jon and Steve
ex Sydney uni
We started at a university — and never really left.
Our founders, Jon McFarlane and Steve Von Takach, met while working at the University of Sydney, deep in campus AV and IT. What became clear early was that universities weren't struggling with a lack of technology — they were struggling with fragmentation. Systems were procured in silos, rarely designed to work together, and almost impossible to evolve once deployed.
Fifteen years ago, we founded PlaceOS specifically to solve that integration challenge. Not by adding another application, but by creating an integration and automation layer that sits above existing systems — a platform designed to connect access control, room bookings, HVAC, AV, digital signage, and sensors into a single, real-time campus environment.
Since then, we've worked with universities globally — including UCLA — as well as workplaces, government facilities, and hospitals. That cross-sector experience allows us to bring proven operational and automation patterns back into higher education, while still respecting the complexity and governance unique to campuses.
Why Discovery Comes First
After 15 years working inside complex campuses, one thing is consistent: smart campus projects don't fail because of technology. They fail because of poor scoping, misaligned stakeholders, and unclear system architecture. That's why we start with a fixed-price Discovery and Blueprint phase — aligning Facilities, IT, AV, and academic stakeholders, defining the right integration architecture, and mapping practical automation workflows before major budget is committed.
Big plans, bigger questions.
You know a smarter campus is the future. But the path to get there is filled with complexity, competing priorities, and risk.
Facilities, IT, and academic leadership have different goals. How do you unite them behind a single vision?
You have decades of systems that don't talk to each other. How do you integrate them without starting from scratch?
You can't afford a costly investment that doesn't deliver clear value. How do you prove the business case to leadership?
Students expect seamless digital experiences. How do you bridge the gap between physical campus and digital services?
The Smart Campus: A Blueprint for Every Building
Whether you're a university, a workplace, a hotel, or a retailer — you can learn from our smart campus projects, because they are all of these things in one: places for learning, working, collaboration, and experience. What we've learned here shapes what's possible for workplaces, hotels, hospitals, and cities everywhere.
Real-time occupancy data across lecture halls, labs, libraries, and common areas — so you can right-size your estate and reduce energy waste.
Student ID cards that unlock rooms, grant building access, and trigger the right environment — automatically, based on bookings and schedules.
AV systems that power on when a class is booked, screens that know the session, and technology that never makes you late to your first slide.
Occupancy-driven HVAC and lighting that reduces energy consumption without impacting the experience — critical for meeting net-zero commitments.
Room schedules, campus events, emergency messaging, and wayfinding — all driven from live building data, not manual content management.
Students and staff can book rooms, find colleagues, report faults, and get building information — in plain language, through any interface.
Your Blueprint for Success.
We've refined a structured, sprint-based process that moves you from ambiguity to an actionable plan. We facilitate the tough conversations and do the technical diligence so you can move forward with confidence.
We run collaborative workshops with your key stakeholders across Facilities, IT, AV, HR, and Operations to unify objectives and define what success looks like for everyone — including academic leadership.
We go beyond features to capture the real-world user stories and journeys of your students, staff, and operators. This ensures the solution is adopted because it solves problems people actually have.
We dive into your existing infrastructure. We audit your systems, sensors, and data sources to map out what can be leveraged, what needs to be connected, and how it all fits together.
We make the vision tangible. Through high-fidelity mockups and workflow diagrams, we validate the most critical user experiences with your team before a single line of code is written.
"A poorly defined scope will derail your project and your procurement. Teams get stuck debating: slow custom solutions or ill-fitting off-the-shelf software. We establish clarity upfront to save millions later. Using application prototypes, we embed the adoption process now, before a high-stakes event leaves no room for error. Ultimately, you get a custom-fit solution that plugs into your standard platforms, solving the debate once and for all."— Jon McFarlane, Co-founder PlaceOS
Choose the right engagement.
Our engagement provides a comprehensive set of documents that deliver immediate value. This is your project's foundation — a blueprint you can use to brief any vendor, guide your internal teams, and make informed investment decisions.
A comprehensive strategic package to de-risk your smart campus project.
- The Stakeholder Map
- Prioritized User Stories
- Technology & Systems Audit
- Integration Requirements Document
- Project Statement of Works (SOW)
- High-Fidelity UX Mockups
The complete Blueprint plus a tangible, interactive prototype.
- Everything in the Discovery Blueprint
- Working UI Prototype — A clickable, interactive front-end application built with web-standard technologies.
- Ready to Connect — Designed for seamless integration with your backend systems and APIs.
The complete engagement at a special rate for existing customers.
- Everything in the Discovery Blueprint
- Working UI Prototype — Clickable front-end built on web-standard technologies.
- This 30% discount is available to all current PlaceOS customers, or as a credit for new customers.
Campus-Wide AI Blueprint
Design a single, coherent AI layer for your entire campus
- Campus AI Architecture Blueprint
- Integration & Data Mapping
- LLM & AI Stack Strategy
- Use-Case & Workflow Definition
- Security, Permissions & Governance Model
- Phased Delivery Roadmap
- Executive-Ready Documentation
Outcome: A single AI strategy that replaces fragmented assistants with a scalable, campus-wide solution — grounded in real building data from PlaceOS.
Ready for a clearer path forward?
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute blueprint call. We'll discuss your unique campus challenges and determine if our discovery engagement is the right first step for you.
Or email Jon directly: jon@place.technology