The venue is divided into three distinct areas - the bright and open main lounge bar on the ground floor as you walk in, featuring large windows, lots of natural light and the stunning urban views. The mezzanine restaurant area above the rear portion of main lounge bar is a cosier and more intimate space, and downstairs in the basement is the classy, discreet cocktail bar area.
All three areas have diverse ambiences and so all required a variety of acoustic treatments when it came to the sound design. The three zones also had to be able to function either independently or simultaneously, so the global audio design had to be highly versatile. Harman's Andy Duffield worked closely with Sound Division's David Graham to create the optimum sound scheme. Together they produced initial drawings and acoustic modellings and made their proposal, taking into account Westminster City Council's strict guidelines regarding noise pollution and leakage containment.
This threw some interesting audio conundrums into the mix and influenced the sound design in specific ways - like avoiding placement of subs in the spacious bar/lounge area, yet ensuring the system output sufficient low frequencies to complete the sound spectrum. The basement cocktail bar also contains a small dancefloor. Duffield explains that this is designed as a high fidelity club dance music system.
The chosen speakers are JBL Control 29 AVs from the Control Contractor range for the mid-tops, plus the dual 15" AL6125 sub from the AE range for bottom end. The Control 29s are one of JBL's most popular installation speakers, chosen once again for their compact dimensions, immense power and robustness.
Tucked away in the far end of what were once the cellars, are five VIP booths. Each of these has two Control 23 speakers with its own independent volume control via a dbx ZonePro - which also offers source selection - the main basement Rolec hard drive feed or video sound - from within each of the booths. There's also the facility to plumb a portable DJ system in at any one of three points throughout the venue. Sound sources are routed to the booths via the BSS Soundweb which handles audio management for the entire venue plus processing and EQ.
Upstairs in the main bar and lounge, sound is delivered by six Control 29AVs inset into the wall, with only about 5cm protruding of each enclosure. This is easily enough to fill the large and lively open part of the space. In-fill underneath the mezzanine area is supplied by Control 24Cs and Control 19Cs. With careful focussing and placement and the subtle application of psychoacoustics, they completed the design this area without the need for bass enclosures and also without compromising the ear's need to receive these frequencies for a balanced sound.
The mezzanine restaurant area features more Control 24 and 29Cs. The basic sound is designed to be a pleasant 'conversation' level, but with plenty of headroom for private parties or more boisterous occasions if needed. Andy Duffield comments "The fantastic range of product within the Harman Pro Group portfolio, has allowed us, in conjunction with The Sound Division Group, to design a truly bespoke solution to this venue. We've been very fortunate to be involved right the way through this project."
(Lee Baldock)
