KTNN 660 AM radio in St. Michaels, Arizona, has proudly served as “The Voice of the Navajo Nation” for over 30 years. Broadcasting from St. Michaels, Arizona, KTNN’s digital capabilities reaches listeners beyond reservation lines, providing Navajo people across the country, and even overseas, with a connection to home. Looking to upgrade its facility and technological capabilities, KTNN experienced a series of unsuccessful starts to designing and building a new broadcast studio before turning to V Three Studios for a solution.
The design of the 9,000-square-foot facility maintains the integrity of the tribe’s traditional culture, yet reflects modern elements that are critical to the station’s purpose of educating, informing and entertaining the Navajo people, many of whom rely on the station as the only source of news and entertainment. The interior features eight studios supporting AM/FM radio and digital broadcast. Glass is incorporated throughout the media center in order to create an open space and direct interface with its listeners. As a community-driven operation, user-friendly technology was installed in order for both older and newer generations of the tribe to be able to use it intuitively. Indigenous wood ceiling elements and textiles were selected by V Three and used in new and interesting ways to maintain visual connectivity to the Navajo culture. These final touches implement V Three’s response towards radio station facility design, establishing KTNN as a force in this dynamic age of media evolution.
