Beirut Express, part of the Maroush Group, is one of the liveliest and fastest growing new restaurant chains in London. Old Brompton Road is the second complete Beirut Express venue to be kitted out from scratch by CP Sound, following on from the success of the busy Kensington Church Street outlet.
The client wants to create an animated, lively atmosphere in the restaurants - so good sound is an essential ingredient. Some venues also feature live music, belly dancing and other entertainment.
The Brompton Road location is a long narrow design with stunning marble walls and stainless steel finishes - so a real acoustic challenge for CP Sound. Colin Pattenden designed a system to overcome these physical disadvantages by very precise speaker positioning - ensuring even coverage throughout the venue. The other consideration was that whilst background music needed to add to the general hubbub, it couldn't to be so loud that holding a conversation became difficult.
The budget was also expedient, so he used six JBL Control 26 CT ceiling speakers - one of the range's flagship small installation products. With a coaxially mounted 6.5" woofer and 3/4" titanium-coated tweeter, Pattenden says: "It's just the perfect speaker for the job of delivering good but not overly loud sound levels across a wide coverage area." In this case the long strip like shape of the restaurant, and throughout the sit-up bar area at the front.
The Control 26CT includes a multitap transformer for use with 70-100V line distribution systems, and CP also supplied an 100V line Adastra amp and a CD player for the source. The installation was completed with anti-flame cabling throughout.
At Kensington Church Street, Pattenden again specified Control 26CTs - four of them, plus four surface-mounting JBL Control 25Ts (also with 70/100V line transformer), a CD player source and an Adastra 100V line amp, plus two wall mounted remote volume controls - for separate upstairs and downstairs volume adjustment.
Next on CP's list for the Maroush Group is the up market Edgeware Road, where the brief requires a "sound system second to none" in its seated restaurant area.
(Chris Henry)
