This includes a new sound system designed over eight separate zones and a club lighting system in the newly-created Night Lounge located in the basement area. All spaces have been conceived, installed and supplied by The Sound Division Group (SDG).
When proprietor Marlon Abela reopened the venue towards the end of last year, there was just one piece of the jigsaw remaining. For while the ground floor bar, first floor restaurant and second floor private members' lounge had received their first major overhaul in many years, it was only after the owners decided to convert the basement into an exclusive nightclub - termed a 'night lounge' - that the real 'wow factor' was delivered.
With its colour-washed, exposed brickwork, discreet effects lighting and exclusive, bookable jet black tables, the new Night Lounge provides a luxurious environment for members and their guests to socialise and dance late into the night.
Sound Division managing director, David Graham, whose company had been recommended to the project, stated,"Today, it's no longer just about creating traditional-style clubs but chic boutique lounges which are becoming increasingly popular in Mayfair and Chelsea. The owners have been brave in converting a completely new area from a former conventional private dining room, and part of the enhancement was to make this space more intimate, using warm vibrant colours and also create light movement for dancing."
With the lighting and sound system also needing to be both unobtrusive and of high quality, the compact Nexo speaker range was specified. Six of the newly-styled Nexo PS8's have been ceiling-mounted down either side of the rectangular room, with a pair of LS500 subwoofers recessed under the DJ booth and split into separate Bar and Club zones.
The dynamic lighting and gobo patterns are emitted from four of the equally compact Chauvet Q Spot 150 LED moving heads controlled from a ShowCAD Artist software package. The presets have been programmed onto a 17" touch screen PC - with an intuitive, custom designed GUI - a set up which is proving increasingly popular with club operators and DJ's for its simplicity of use.
Up in the drawing room-style ground floor bar there are a further four PS8's and an LS400 sub. A plug-in provision for iPod and plasma screen has also been provided while a second portable DJ set-up allows DJ's to play in the bar during busy midweek evenings and at weekends.
Elsewhere SDG have used a combination of JBL Control 25AV and Control 23 series speakers in the ground floor reception area and stairwell, with redeployed Bose and Mordaunt Short speakers in the first floor restaurant and second floor private members' lounge. Here, further plug-in points maximise the potential for a wide range of private events to be staged.
The entire audio system is powered by Crown amplification and placed within a Soundweb London digital processing environment.
Finally, Sound Division have created a third portable rack system for live work around the venue, containing Shure SM58 and PG24/PG58 UHF radio mic system, a Phonic Helix 17 5-channel mic mixer and repurposed HK monitor speakers.
(Jim Evans)
