Venue #33

$9.95 inc gst

9 771832 143005

studio3 - Crown Entertainment Complex, Melbourne

Performance, Integration, Reliability, Quality.

Sanctuary Hotel - Corner of Kent and Liverpool St, Sydney

The True Foundation of Quality Professional Audio for your next Sound System Install.

NIDA - Anzac Parade, Kensington, Sydney

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photo by Rob Kelly

For more info please contact:

Sydney

Melbourne

40 Kent Rd. Mascot NSW 2020 Ph:(02) 9582 0909 • Fax:(02) 9582 0999 www.jands.com.au

Unit 11, 21 Sabre Drive, Port Melbourne VIC 3207 Ph:(03) 8698 0909 • Fax:(03) 8698 0994 www.jands.com.au

Architecture . Interior Design

02 8920 1499 www.bergstromarchitects.com.au Nominated Architect: Thomas Bergstrom reg. number 7052 (NSW)

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edit

Slicing the Metaphorical Pie L

et’s just say you were buying a car and you gave me the job of finding the right one for you.

You make it clear to me that the engine was important: it had to be powerful, well maintained, yet quite easy on the gas.

“Sure, leave it with me.”

The next day the alluring big-cat purr of a V8 can be heard outside your house. You run to the door in anticipation as surely your brand new chariot awaits. Adrenalin pumping, you fling open the front door and instantly your face drops like a guillotine. There I am, all smiles, with my head hanging out the window of a cruddy Datsun 180B. It’s kinda mustard coloured, although one of the panels is Kermit green and it’s looking very beaten up.

“What the hell do you call this?” you splutter incredulously.

“This is the one!” I say, a little hurt by your tone. “Just let me pop the bonnet for you.”

Sure enough, a beautiful, German-engineered V8 engine is ticking away like a finely-tuned Swiss watch. Awesome to behold.

“I know I said the engine is important, but it’s gotta look good. Get this hunka junk outta here.”

And off I go, tail between my legs. Undeterred, I return soon after with a beautiful sports car. I beep the horn and your look of incredulity soon turns to a goofy ‘hey, what do we have here?’ grin.

From there I discover there’s no point having a supercar engine because you don’t have a supercar budget. But I know you need a V8 so there’s no point opting for a gee-whiz Japanese sports car. In other words, I can quickly put together a shortlist of cars that offer the best possible combination features in your budget, without skimping on anything important.

It was revealing having a good chat to Neil Perry about his Spice Market restaurant venture. The theme that kept rearing its head was this notion of ‘the whole package’. And for Neil and his partners this means giving every aspect of the fitout an appropriate slice of the budget. Let’s say the interior design is the car body and the appointments; let’s call the kitchen the engine; perhaps the sound system could be the… um, sound system; maybe the website, the tyres, the crockery might be the dashboard etc etc. Sure, Neil has one of the biggest budgets in town, but there are plenty of expensive white elephants out there — a fat chequebook isn’t any guarantee of success. A big chunk of guaranteeing success is thinking of everything and factoring it in.

So in the same way that you wouldn’t have a gorgeous Porsche 911 chocked up on bricks in your front yard or a Barina with a muscle car engine busting out of the bonnet, get the balance right through fastidious planning and realistic budgets. It’s reassuring to see it’s a philosophy the very best adhere to… and prosper by.

“Not bad, huh?”

You do a couple of laps of the car taking in the luscious curves, picturing yourself pulling nonchalantly through a clifftop hairpin with an Audrey Hepburn type tugging at her billowing head scarf in the passenger seat (sorry, ladies… insert your ideal companion here).

You then tap one of the panels. Uh oh, it’s fibreglass. You then flip the ‘lid’ and discover some sort of go-cart engine working overtime, like a frog in a blender.

“This is a kit car. It’s a toy. No one’s going to take me seriously in this thing!”

Strike Two. After another couple of attempts we’re getting nowhere. The retro car is “too high maintenance”, the brand new Commodore stationwagon is “too practical”, while the four-cylinder hybrid didn’t have “enough grunt”.

“Right,” I say. “How about we start with a budget and work backwards from there?” “$50k.”

Christopher Holder, Editorial Director chris@venuemag.com

a fat chequebook isn’t any guarantee of success. A big chunk of guaranteeing success is thinking of everything and factoring it in

ONLY‌ Sydney Brisbane

Melbourne Perth

02 9748 1122 www.showtech.com.au

58

42

46

L SPECIA SOUND

36

64

52

» issue thirty three November

2009

64 — Audio Special

The best-sounding venues revealed.

58 — Melbourne Exhibition

Convention Centre

46 — Dockside

36 — Spice Temple

Noise problems to no problems.

Neil Perry’s luscious Chinese adventure.

52 — High Lights

Bigger, better, smarter.

42 — Soho

Function space with everything.

Swanky, schmick, luminous.

2010

™

» Cover: Spice Temple, Sydney » Photo: Marcus Clinton

Hotels & Clubs

Advertising Office: (02) 9986 1188 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 Editorial Office: (03) 5331 4949 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353 Publication Manager: Stewart Woodhill (stewart@venuemag.com) Editorial Director: Christopher Holder (chris@venuemag.com) Publisher: Philip Spencer (philip@venuemag.com) Assistant Editor: Mark Davie (mark@venuemag.com) Art Direction & Design: Dominic Carey (dominic@alchemedia.com.au) Additional Design: Heath McCurdy (heath@alchemedia.com.au) Circulation Manager: Miriam Mulcahy (subscriptions@alchemedia.com.au) Accounts: Jen Temm (accounts@alchemedia.com.au)

alchemedia publishing pty ltd (ABN: 34 074 431 628) PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 info@alchemedia.com.au All material in this magazine is copyright © 2009 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. The title Venue is a registered Trademark. Apart from any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. The publishers believe all information supplied in this magazine to be correct at the time of publication. They are not in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in

Citigate Hotel Belair Hotel Crown Towers Bankstown Sports Club

— — — —

14 32 30 34

Bars & Pubs Bootleg Bar — 12 Soho Bar — 42 St Leonards — 18 Restaurants Spice Temple — 36 Monkey Magic — 28 Pendolino — 13 Convention/Function Space MCEC — 60 Dockside — 48 Audio Special Good Vibrations — Boring But Important— Bankstown Sports Club — The Observatory — The Met — Spice Market — Haymarket Hotel — Port Office Hotel — Tattersalls Hotel —

64 66 68 69 70 71 72 74 76

the event of any information proving inaccurate. After investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, prices, addresses and phone numbers were up to date at the time of publication. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements appearing in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person, company or advertising agency submitting or directing the advertisement for publication.

The publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions, although every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy.

News Lit > Sit > Kit — 20 High Light — 52 Commercial Edge — 79

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»

tidbit

Bootleg Bar Bootlegs have been lo-fi since obsessed fans tucked cassette recorders into the folds of their jackets, and they haven’t got much better with YouTube. But who cares, it’s about reliving the moment. And if there’s the right mix of crowd noise, banter, and miscellaneous tuning noises, it can evoke nostalgia for a time and a place you never even saw. Rob Gal’s Bootleg Bar + Italian Food in Potts Point is like that, it’s fittingly lo-fi with a Luchetti Krelle-designed eclectic industrial feel that relives the ’60s to the ’80s — with plenty of nostalgic pieces from each decade. The bar itself is built from the same stacked concrete screen blocks you’d find in the carport of a ’60s-era house, with step stools for bar stools. Photos of influential music artists line the walls like a hall of fame, and ’80s ghetto blasters sit up on the shelves. The ceiling is a suspended grid filled with copper coloured prison fencing mesh panels and mechanics lights, all hanging below a sprayed sound absorption layer. Every wall is covered with green chalkboard paint and rimmed with relaxed banquettes, and old school library catalogue drawers house the cutlery. It’s just the right mix.

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» Bootleg Bar: 175 Victoria Street, Potts Point NSW (02) 9361 3884 or www.bootlegbar.com.au » Luchetti-Krelle: (02) 9699 3425 or www.luchettikrelle.com

Music Video Watch Shakira, She Wolf venue casts a sly eye over the latest in pop music videos.

It’s nice to occasionally be reminded that the music world’s past present and future isn’t neatly ‘yin and yang’ed by the Anglo bop of the Beatles and the Afro-American cruisey groove of Smokey Robinson. Occasionally a pop anomaly appears from another culture entirely, bypassing the conveyor belts of the MTV machine… and hundreds of millions of the world’s population — who çuriously ¿pose questions upside down¿ — love it. How else can you explain Shakira and her Oral Fixation assault on soccer stadiums everywhere? You’d imagine some Sony company exec in some ivory tower somewhere — blowing the contents of his double-shot latté across the room when they first heard it — may have had a word or two in the shell-like of their pint-sized superstar. But no, Oral Fixation it was to be — Nutball Sprite: 1; Global Music Monolith: Nil. Now it seems that she’s over her ‘mouth thing’ and has transformed into a She Wolf. And, yes, one still gets the feeling Shakira is a re-fried bean short of a whole enchilada.

Columbia’s second biggest export and the world’s pre-eminent latina balladeer is again off her trolley with choreography that combines screw-loose robot conniptions and ‘put that away!’ contortions only an obstetrician should be privy to.

As mentioned, Shakira is a ‘she wolf’ and this is quite possibly the first song ever composed to number the word ‘lycanthropy’ in its long list of ‘huh?’ lyrics. By which I mean, it’s a song with

My Fair Verona

lyrics that read like they’re drafted in part by Nokia predictive text, and in part by a dodgy Spanglish auto-translator. Try: ‘not getting enough retribution or decent incentive to keep me at it / I’m starting to feel just a little abused like a coffee machine in an office’ … I see… I really must give the office Krups a de-scale

Juliet draped over her balcony waxing lyrical to a bleeding-hearted Romeo is probably the only scene of Verona most could conjure up. And it seems Italian restaurateur Nino Zoccali is tapping into that sentimentality with his latest venture, Pendolino: the subtle blend of a moodily lit setting, Italian maitre-des and a sumptuous wine list all invite star-crossed lovers to make a scene of their own. Dominic Alvaro from architects Woods Bagot tailored Zoccali’s Veronese vision to the heritage form of Sydney’s Strand Arcade: exposing the brick walls; building a dimly lit wine cellar, made from heavy blackened steel metalwork typical of northern Italian blacksmithing, stacked to the brim with wine and olive oil bottles; devising a series of iron screens with a floriate pattern found in the streets of Verona; and installing olive tree branch lights by Italian master Michele de Lucchi. Olive oil plays a big part in the Italian concept. Pendolino means The Pendulum, an olive variety in Italy characterised by either hanging branches or olives. The restaurant even has an olive oil library, L’Olioteca, featuring a range of world-class Australian and Italian extra virgin olive oils and staff to help cooks pick the best oil for their kitchen. It also doubles as a private dining room for between 12 and 56 guests.

Pendolino also has a strong sustainability focus with a kitchen designed for very high quality maximum foodservice capability. This may not sound particularly environmentally beneficial, especially when you learn that many of the innovations are centred on utilising fast food technology in this fine dining atmosphere. But the positive environmental ramifications sees the use of less raw product wastage, combined with a focus on low carbon footprint food, and organic, biodynamic and sustainable raw ingredients. Which includes their olive oil too, of course. »P endolino: The Strand Arcade, 412 – 414 George Street, Sydney NSW (02) 9231 6117 or www.pendolino.com.au » Woods Bagot: (02) 9249 2500 or www.woodsbagot.com

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and a cuddle.

Being a she wolf has also done untold damage to Shakira’s wardrobe, which seems to be malfunctioning with the sort of regularity you’d expect from the proverbial two-peso watch.

She kicks off with a ‘full-body’ leotard with one leg shearedoff and a disappearing midriff — an edgy look psychopathic dance instructors the world over will soon be adopting I’m sure.

Then there’s a skin-toned contortionist’s suit, perfect for sticking a stiletto behind your ears and some very public pelvic floor exercises. And just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder, Shakira signs off with some freeform rooftop, hoppyskippy, interpretive dance in a fetching two-piece Mayan temple maiden outfit.

Shakira is loopier than a yo-yo carnival. I just hope she keeps getting away with it. — CH.

«

»

flit Venues in the News Andy North (ex Crown Casino) has more recently been working as Executive Chef at The Sebel Albert Park. To raise the profile of the hotel’s excellent F&B offering, Andy teamed up with Domaine Chandon for a Winemakers’ Dinner at its Windows restaurant. Spicing things up a bit, Andy invited old friend Shane Delia (Maha) to contribute his Middle Eastern flair to the evening. Fresh from a two-week busman’s holiday in Turkey, Shane is apparently brimming with ideas for his new restaurant venture, reputedly called St. Catherine’s.

Clubs Australia is sticking the boot into the kneecapped recording industry behemoth. Following the news that the Copyright Tribunal will be setting higher music license fees in December, Clubs Australia has announced a scheme intended to sidestep the fees altogether. Instead of playing and paying for music from the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) — the company that represents the interests of major Australian labels and recording artists — the clubs are planning a switch to purely independent artists. It will save clubs like Canterbury Leagues in NSW a packet, with annual fees estimated to rise from $500 to a whopping $36,000 for its restaurants! It’s good news for independent artists looking for more exposure, and it’ll save Savage Garden and Kenny G from spoiling your appetite.

Perth City Gate Overhauled Citigate Perth is a four star 278-room hotel managed by Mirvac hotels. The hotel had previously been the Orchard/Grand Chancellor Hotel and its dated interior was in dire need of an upgrade. Woodhead was commissioned to provide design services for the $9m refurbishment, transforming the asset with a contemporary design that’s more aligned with the Mirvac brand, while giving it a sense of that ‘Perth’ feel. The three elements Woodhead figured would give the hotel a touch of the Western capital’s appeal were a healthy dose of timber veneers, floral designs distinct to WA and aboriginal motifs. But as with all renovations, Woodhead had to strip away what was left of the old hotel. Gone are the brass trim, etched glass, elaborate chandeliers and marble surfaces, replaced by light and dark timbers, a stylised version of WA’s state flower, the kangaroo paw, emblazoned on windows and light fittings, and local artist’s work screenprinted onto silk. Task lighting has been simplified, making way for large cylindrical pendant lights to snake en-masse through the lobby. And new plasterboard, floating ceiling draws guests into the café/ bar area that had previously been tucked away in a corner out of sight. And entertainment is projected onto the bar bulkhead when required, instead of cluttering up the place with plasma screens. On top of all this Perth modernisation, Woodhead also took care of a soft upgrade of the guest rooms and suites, corridors and lift lobbies, and an upgrade of the roof terrace pool deck area — which is the best way to enjoy Perth, by the water. » Citigate Perth: 707 Wellington St, Perth WA (08) 9327 7000 or www.mirvachotels.com/citigate-perth » Woodhead: (08) 9481 3722 or www.woodhead.com.au

The Grollo family has lured a couple of high-flyers to the high-rise Rialto towers in Melbourne, as part of a bid to reshape the skyscraper’s waning image into a cultural hub. Guy Grossi is set to open Merchant, a new eatery in the tower’s forecourt and Vue de Monde’s Shannon Bennett is in negotiations to move his restaurant to the top of the Rialto, according to The Age. In other Monde news, well, Vue news actually, Bennett has opened a second Café Vue, this time at 401 St Kilda Road.

The man responsible for bringing karaoke to Melbourne, Mr Ibuki, is synonymous with Japanese cuisine in Melbourne. After almost a half century of working in and owning Japanese restaurants since 1962, Ibuki, now 70, has made a comeback with Ibuki’s, a 120-seat traditional Japanese restaurant at 556 Lonsdale Street.

He declares that, “this will be my last one”.

Fair Work inspectors will be hitting up the hospitality industry in Tasmania over the next two months to ensure employers are paying workers for any opening or packup duties. A recent survey by the inspectors found that 25 percent of students weren’t getting any extra dosh for coming in early or sticking around after work, which is apparently against the law. Serious breaches could set an employer back a $33,000 penalty, which would go straight back into the pockets of the underpaid worker… right Fair Work?

Celebrity chef and molecular gastronomy proponent Ferran Adria, has whipped up a storm of a different type. Adria presides over the Barcelona restaurant El Bulli, which is often booked out years in advance with people champing at the bit to sink their teeth into some frozen foam or oyster cubes. But German food writer, Jorg Zipprick, is not impressed. He says that Adria’s dishes should come with a health warning outlining the additives used to keep that foam propped up and perky. Apparently the “colourants, gelling agents, emulsifiers, acidifiers and taste enhancers that Adria has introduced massively into his dishes to obtain extraordinary textures, tastes and sensations do not have a neutral impact on health.” Zipprick also slipped in a brief mention that some had a laxative effect. Well at least those additives won’t stick around for too long.

CUB has resurrected The Pond, this time in Darlinghurst.

It’s fair enough that the brewery would reuse their urban oasis idea, after all it’s about reclaiming disused spaces… oh, and a little bit of market share while they’re at it. Last seen in Melbourne in a skinny slice of real estate, The Pond in Darlinghurst is basically the same thing. Built on the derelict premises of an Italian restaurant, The Pond will hope to sell plenty of Pure Blonde to keep CUB’s foothold on the $556m low-carb beer market. It’ll be at 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst for the next three months.

Not long ago the Van Haandel brothers parted ways in

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89th Floor, Eureka Tower, Southbank – Victoria

Photography: Rhiannon Slatter

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»

flit Melbourne, divvying up between them what they had worked so hard to build. A similar family breakdown happened in Sydney amongst the family behind Doyle’s seafood restaurants. On one side is Peter Doyle Jr, the son of late Peter Doyle and chief executive of Watsons Bay Hotel and the Peter Doyle at the Quay restaurant.

In the other corner is his uncle, Michael, who works next door at Doyle’s on the Beach. The soured relationship hit the rocks two years ago but the split of the business has never been formally ratified, according to The Daily Telegraph. Sick of the delay, Peter has now moved the battle over the empire to court.

If everyone is selling, well then someone’s got to be buying. While hotel operators have been busy offloading assets and securing more management contacts, Amalgamated Holdings, the owner behind the Rydges hotel chain, has been on a spending spree.

Its already sizeable $700m portfolio has expanded with the addition of two Queensland hotels and two new cinemas for its entertainment business. It also bought two properties last year for almost $80m, according to The Australian.

Sydney’s only hotel Kosher Kitchen has launched at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, meeting the needs of the Jewish community under the supervision of respected Rabbi, Aaron Groner of the Kashurit Authority in Sydney. Sofitel Sydney Wentworth is currently the only hotel kosher kitchen available in Sydney and its surrounds, allowing the observance and creation of kosher cuisine for small through to larger scale events of up to 600 people. Sydney Rabbi and philanthropist Rabbi Mendel Kastel has confirmed The Jewish House will be among the first to take advantage of the hotel’s new kosher service and facilities, with the charity holding its most important annual fund raising event — featuring entertainment from famous father and son Jimmy Barnes and David Campbell — at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth on the 1st of December.

Peden New Wares Cessnock is about 50km west of Newcastle in the Hunter Valley. Once a prosperous mining town, a slump in the ’60s forced a closure of the mines and Cessnock dusted itself off and began a love affair with wine.

The transition has been a long road, but it got a little shorter when a freeway boosted the tourism trade in the ’90s. Peden’s Hotel has been around since 1904, previously as the Aberdare Tavern, and it seems the move to wine has paid off. Peden’s has just completed a major refurbishment including a new restaurant, bar, TAB, children’s playroom, kitchen, outdoor dining and smoking areas. As with any regional town, finding the balance between keeping up with the big smoke and not alienating existing clientele is a delicate balancing act. Owner Jeff Callaghan engaged Wendy Green from Wow Factor to handle the design. The result is a mix of city café-chic and old-world charm. The bar separates the dining room from the front bar and TAB areas, and is a mix of stone, stainless steel and local timber with a splash of orange polyurethane to spice things up a little. Three oversized drum lights add some colour and light to the bar and according to Green, everyone that sees them says they’re, “utterly gorgeous”, which shows how much Cessnock’s changed since the ’60s. But just in case locals get a little too fancy, Green dug out some old black and white prints of the Aberdare Tavern as a reminder of a bygone era. » Peden’s Hotel: 196 Vincent St, Cessnock NSW (02) 4990 1014 or www.pedenshotel.com.au » Wow Factor: 0412 542 824 or www.wowfactor.net.au » Seating Direct: (02) 4735 2077 » Contessa Lighting: (02) 4271 3333 » Tascot Carpets: (02) 9906 7955 or www.tascot.com.au

Ripples Whale Beach, located a pebble’s throw from the golden sands of one of Sydney’s most beautiful surfing beach, has opened. Boasting a 150-seat alfresco restaurant including outdoor lounge bar, Beach House event space, upper level lounge retreat and traditional beachside kiosk, ripples Whale Beach promises a chilled seaside outing.

Ah, the New South Wales food outlet Name and Shame list. The place to go to check out if your local café has mud in their mud cake, if your supermarket has been selling out-of-date milk or in the case of Vinh Phat Vietnamese restaurant, cooking with your shirt off. Two out of three kitchen staff had their kit off, with a third wearing a singlet when they were fined recently. A recent boom in the list has taken the total number of premises well above 800, and has quite a few recognisable establishments. Check it out at www. foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/penalty-notices Emirates Leisure has a stake in prime Southbank (Melbourne) hospitality real estate with the new Left Bank. This plush multi-purpose venue features some grand gestures such as an 11m-long onyx table for communal dining and a bar you could land a light aircraft on. There’s plenty to like about the lighting as well, with a showroom of gorgeous pendants.

The Premier’s Bar at the Conrad Treasury casino in Brisbane has been treated to a million dollar makeover.

The heritage-listed space has four rooms and retains plenty of period features along with some Hasselldevised contemporary sophistication. Rumour has it the design was inspired by ex-premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen — make mine a ‘Don’t You Worry About That’ cocktail.

Following its recent opening of the Drift cocktail bar, Ravesi’s has overhauled Level 1 of the Bondi venue, building a new Italian-style Wine Bar and restaurant with the same stunning views of Bondi Beach its famous for.

Designed by SJB Interiors the Wine Bar retains Ravesi’s signature beach flavour.

Sydney’s harbourside Ocean Room restaurant has been transformed by designer Yasumichi Morita. Japanese high-end restaurant group Zetton has partnered with Morita for their first venture in Australia. The design has

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flit plenty to write home about, including the restaurant’s signature chandelier installation comprised of over 3000 miniature wooden cylinders, fitted together like a giant hanging puzzle.

Northern Italian chef Alessandro Pavoni is at the helm of a new waterside eatery, transforming D’alboro Marina into Ormeggio, an upmarket dining destination.

Previously, Pavoni had been heading up the team at Park Hyatt’s HarbourKitchenBar, but is all set to bring his Northern Italian fare to the North shore.

Neil Perry has set his sights high — 11 metres high to be precise. Perry’s Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney has opened [pictured] in the ground and first floors of the Art Deco City Mutual building and at points the magnificent central space has ceiling heights in excess of 11m. Bates Smart designed the fitout and crafted interior treatments primarily for the floors and furnishings so as not to compete with the grand space.

Doggy’s Bagged — The Mosman Council has been threatening exposure on the Name and Shame list for doggy loving venue owners. In a recent letter to the owners of food businesses around the area, the council’s acting General Manager, Max Glyde, reminded people of their ‘responsibilities’ in regards to animals, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Two discretionary laws prohibit animals from coming within 10m of food consumption or preparation areas, but not one council in Sydney enforces them.

Bean v Beer — Registered clubs are raking in the beans with coffee sales outdoing beer in many clubs. It comes off the back of clubs going for more of a familyfriendly vibe, with coffee sales increasing by 76 percent since 2004. Club Marconi in Sydney is now the biggest coffee seller in Australia, making more than 360,000 cups annually.

Raffles builds ‘mecca’ of hotels — The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam. Traditionally, the Haj always involved hardship: months of travel on foot wearing the same garb as millions of other pilgrims, sleeping in the open, and generally stripping oneself of earthly trappings. But it hasn’t stopped Raffles’ plans to erect a luxury hotel. It’s just three minutes walk from the Grand Mosque with plenty of trappings for the wayward pilgrim: a chocolate room with on-demand, personalised pralines, 24-hour butler service, beauty salons and spas. Not exactly slumming it. It’s a development of the Saudi Binladin Group, and yep, that’s Osama’s estranged Dad. Part of the development will also feature the Makkah Royal Clock Tower, a 577m tower, topped with a clock face stretching 40m in diameter, making it five times the size of the Big Ben and visible for 16km — no pilgrim will ever miss a prayer.

Give your venue a free plug. Send through your news and any photos to Mark: mark@venuemag.com

St Leonards Back in 2005, St Leonards Tavern received a particularly scathing review in The Sun Herald. Coming in at a mere single paragraph, the article kicked off with, “The Tavern is a prime example of a pub not even trying to compete. While its neighbours have spent hundreds of thousands on fixtures and fittings and radical new designs, the Tavern painted its walls purple, put up some sports pictures then turned the TV to the footy and sat back.” Well it’s been four years, but now St Leonards has taken up the challenge and decided to play catchup with the Joneses.

Response Group was entrusted with the refurbishment, ditching the gloom in favour of a fresh, inviting and more recognisable tavern. Not that ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’ markes a good pub, but sometimes it takes a little bit of dressing up to attract a wider demographic, which is exactly what senior designer, Dilhan Surin, did. First off, get rid of all the sporting memorabilia and dated furniture to stop it looking like a tradies’ den. Next step was to apply some quality finishes, including reflective gold panels, and Inax Japanese bricks. Surin also added some dynamic looks, with a black and white mosaic patterned bar front set as the focal point of the main public area, and Wicker dining chairs from Café Culture. All up, it’s a far sight better than purple paint. » St Leonards: 655 Pacific Hwy, St Leonards NSW (02) 9436 1933 or www.stleonardstavern.com.au » Response Group: (02) 8217 4700 or www.response-group.com.au » Café Culture: (02) 9699 8577 or www.cafeculture.com.au » Tascot Carpets: (02) 9906 7955 or www.tascot.com.au

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UNIQUE LIGHTING FEATURES

www.diemme.com.au ph. 61 2 9550 0811

FULL COLOUR LED CURTAINS Semi see-through for multiple uses: • Window or entrance display • Suspended banner • Portable outdoor display • Stage backdrops

FULL COLOUR LARGE LED VIDEO SCREENS Complete system, Wide selection of sizes and resolutions, 4.4 trillion displaying colours, Can integrate with full AV

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Ronstan Tensile Lighting Ronstan Tensile Architecture has rigged up some high-profile examples of cantenary lighting. Anyone that’s been to Federation Square at night will notice the overhead cable net of lights that lights up the square with the atmosphere of twinkling stars.

Ronstan manufactures all is hardware for the cantenary lighting projects, simplifying the specification process, allowing freedom of design. » Ronstan Tensile Architecture: (03) 8599 0000 or www.ronstantensilearch.com

Warming To The Dragonpoint

LED Fusion Bar

Osram’s LED Dragonpoint downlight series is now available in Warm White (3000k) as well as Cool White (5400k) versions. There is also a new 3W version with three 1W LEDs in the single downlight. The range has a full complement of square and round recessed spot downlights with fixed or swivel features and are all IP65 rated for outdoor use. » Osram: 1300 467 726 or sales@osram.com.au

The latest in Tri-Colour technology from Pro Shop brings us the brand new LED Fusion Bar. Like the name suggests the colour mixing is fused into each lens by way of the special Tri-Colour LEDs, ensuring a even spread of colour upon the illuminated surface.

Colour outputs are super bright and highly saturated and make the Fusion bar ideal for theming a room. There are a number of DMX modes to allow full controllability or simple reduced channel format, even to the extent that each single pixel can be controllable to allow for dynamic chases and even pixel mapping displays.

Chroma-Q Color Block 2 Following the success of the Chroma-Q Color Block LED fixture, AC Lighting has combined the product’s core elements of modularity and versatility with new single colour RGBA optics, 530 lumens output (almost double CB1) and theatrical-grade dimming to create the exceptional feature set of the Color Block 2 LED fixture. Despite all these improvements it retains the same modularity and wide range of fixing options that made the original so popular — all at no extra cost.

» Show Technology: (02) 9748 1122 or www.showtech.com.au

» Jands: (02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au

Nimbus LED Nimbus LED.next LEDs are quoted as being the world’s most energy efficient and environmentally friendly LED lights. They deliver energy savings of up to 70 percent compared with conventional fluoro and incandescent lighting and have an extra long life of up to 50,000 hours. The LEDs are recyclable, can be installed in any surface, and also come in a slim line table lamp. » Koda Lighting: www.kodalighting.com.au

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JeliB H2O Designs has released the appealing JeliB Lounge. The lounge is a contemporary design carrying the curves of the famous sugary sweet.

Although light, it won’t become as saggy as a well-loved beanbag, it’s durable and comes with marine grade cushions perfect for spas and resorts. It comes in single, two and three-seater options and there are also JeliB series planter boxes available. » H2O Designs: (03) 9335 3611 or www.h2odesigns.com.au

Coral Chair UCI has launched the Coral chair from Harechair in the Netherlands. Made from nylon reinforced with 15 percent fibreglass, the single piece moulded chair has a transparent coral like seat and back that is light and durable. The Coral chair is suitable for indoor and outdoor use, can stack 25 units high, and is available in seven different colours. » UCI: 1300 824 824 or www.uci.com.au

Orbit Around In Like Flint Tait’s Flint table and bench family follows in the tradition of what Tait does best, hardy pieces that are equally suited out back next to the BBQ as well as fulfilling the dress code for indoor use. Designed by Ross Gardan, Flint is dressed up in slatted Spotted Gum for outdoor use, and in a choice of materials for indoors including E0 vertically laminated birch from Eco Core. The legs are powder coated and easily flat packed if they have to travel a long way. » Tait: (03) 9416 0909 or info@tait.biz

The Orbit stool is an industrial-look stool manufactured by Pomp in Melbourne and made to withstand heavy commercial use in bars and cafes. There’s a choice of seats in polyurethane for indoor/outdoor use or a variety of hardwood timbers shaped for comfort. The frame can be raw or powder coated to suit interior requirements and the height of the stool can be made to specification. » Pomp: (03) 9696 9669 or pomp@pomp.com.au

Take a Seat Princess The Princess chair is a contemporary bentwood chair made in Denmark.

It’s available in different timber veneers and lacquers, with a choice of three different chair leg styles. B Seated Global also has a new website with the aim of reducing its carbon footprint. The site is intended to feel like a virtual showroom of the products with a zoom function that focuses on the different features to really get a feel for the product without actually seeing it. » B Seated Global: 1300 727 637 or www.bseatedglobal.com.au

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profit by design BEFORE

do you need help...

• upgrading your venue • producing a ‘WOW’ factor • complying with smoking legislation • creating covered outdoor gaming solutions • generating excitement - attracting new patrons

hospitality + entertainment design

Contact Innersphere now on 041 959 5656 Go to www.innersphere.com.au

»

kit Soundcraft Takes Note Soundcraft has added three diminutive consoles to its Notepad line of compact mixers. The Notepad 102 has two mono mic/line inputs, while both the 124 and 124FX have four. All mixers also carry four stereo line inputs, Soundcraft’s GB30 mic preamp and EQ technology including a highpass filter. The 124FX even includes a built-in digital effects processor. These little guys aren’t rewriting the audio book, but for consistent daily music playback and the odd microphone, a Notepad is all you’ll need. » Jands: (02) 9589 0909 or info@jands.com.au

Meyer Cuts Ribbons The Meyer Sound JM1P self-powered loudspeaker has a compression driver posing as a ribbon driver, meaning the JM1P’s REM technology squeezes the compression driver’s high end through a horn that results in a slim 20-degree horizontal dispersion with a much longer 60-degree vertical dispersion — the kind of coverage a ribbon driver would achieve. The technology allows Meyer to tightly pack boxes in clusters with seamless coverage proportional to the number of units. Each unit delivers 1275W RMS with all the protective trappings to make sure it doesn’t blow up.

Turbosound Flex Stretches Wider Turbosound has added a new wide dispersion cabinet and a ground-stacked 18-inch subwoofer to its FlexArray series. The TFA-600HW FlexArray Wide cabinet is similar to the original design but has a 100 by 16-degree dispersion, instead of the 75 by 16-degree dispersion of the standard cabinet. It can be mixed with existing arrays to tailor the horizontal dispersion to suit the venue. The TFA600B 18-inch subwoofer is essentially the same as the TFA600L minus the flying hardware for those that don’t need it and want to save on cost. » Audio Telex: (02) 9647 1411 or nsw@audiotelex.com.au

» Meyer Sound Australia: (07) 3252 4433 or www.meyersound.com.au

XTA Box of Tricks XTA has a new integrated audio management system, the DC1048.

Featuring full matrix mixing, the DC1048 can be completely configured under the iCORE software package. The 24-bit/96k converters ensure a dynamic range of over 112dB. XTA’s limiters offer peace of mind when configuring a system to ‘set and forget’. With four inputs and eight outputs all electronically balanced on three-pin Phoenix connectors, the DC1048 also has GPIO interfacing built in along with the front panel USB connector and RS485 networking. » Production Audio Services: (03) 9264 8000 or sales@productionaudio.com.au

Mackie Onyx-i Mackie recently launched the Onyx-i series of Firewire recording mixers. The ‘recording mixer’ moniker does these consoles an injustice, but betrays where Mackie comes from. The company has a long live music mixer heritage, and therefore a mixer with recording features is labelled as such. Anyhow, the Onyx-I comes in four size, the biggest being the 1640i, which is a 16-channel mixer with all the usual trappings, six aux groups, four-band sweepable EQ per channel and four sub groups. But where this mixer stands out is its Firewire integration, allowing the console to be hooked up directly to a computer to record each of the channels individually for mixing post-show. It’s a great option for live music venues wanting to offer a recording option for acts. » Music Link: (03) 9765 6565 or atdept@musiclink.com.au

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kit

L-Acoustics XTi L-Acoustics is a big player in the concert touring industry; its speakers can be seen reinforcing the sound of hundreds or thousands of international acts on any given day. Taking this wealth of experience, L-Acoustics has fashioned some tasteful boxes that deliver big concert audio quality and reliability for the average venue. The XT series has been around for a while, but the updated XTi series adds a touch of colour to the speaker range, available in white or the L-Acoustics’ maroon gray as standard, it can also be coated in any range of colours to suit a venue’s colour scheme. The 8XTi and 12XTi are also a perfect fit for L-Acoustics LA4 and LA8 amplifiers. The amps already have presets for the speakers programmed in, just choose the application and it will adjust the speaker characteristics to suit — making each box interchangeable with another. And if a big install is on the cards, the amps can be networked over Ethernet to control a system of up to 253 units. » Random Audio: (02) 9667 3411 or sales@randomaudio.com.au

A Short Throw Away

Epson’s Best & Brightest

With a short throw distance of a mere 93cm when projecting on an 80-inch screen, the Hitachi CPD10 is designed to eliminate any annoying shadows blocking your image. It’s also ideal for mounting in tight spaces and stopping you getting blinded by the light. The projector doesn’t cut any corners, with 2,000 ANSI lumens brightness, 500:1 contrast ratio, XGA resolution and AMX device discovery, all for $2,145

Epson aims to set new benchmarks in brightness, image quality, reliability and flexibility for large venue projectors with the launch of its flagship highend projectors, the Epson EB-Z8000 series. Designed for installation in large venues such as auditoriums and conference centres, the Epson EB-Z8000WU is the ‘first hi-def, high brightness, WUXGA projector featuring industry leading 3LCD technology’, as well as delivering 6000 lumens and a contrast ratio of 5000:1. Price: $25,995.

» Hitachi: 1800 448 224 or www.hitachi.com.au

» Epson: www.epson.com.au

Sharp Bright Spark

Sanyo Say Bye Bye to Wire

The Sharp PG-D4010X projector is a single lamp unit that delivers a high brightness of 4200 ANSI lumens and a 2500:1 contrast ratio, giving clear pictures in any lighting situation. The projector also features a DLP sealed system, preventing dust, dirt and smoke from entering the core parts of the optics. The resulting filter free design reduces Maintenance significantly. The native resolution is XGA (1024 x 768), but is compatible with resolutions up to UXGA. Sources include DVI-I, RGB, component, s-video, composite and a USB connection for mouse control for presentation assistance. Price is $3,299.

The Sanyo WXGA PLC-WXU700 is the first projector to offer IEEE 802.11n high-speed wireless LAN capabilities – that’s right stream video to the projector without cables! The content on any PC monitor from a LAN can be transmitted wirelessly to the projector, eliminating complicated setup with special programs or drivers.

Other features include a widescreen native aspect ratio (1280 x 800), and 3800 lumens brightness. » Sanyo Oceania: 1300 360 230 or www.sanyo.com.au

» S harp Australia: 1300 135 530 or www.sharp.net.au

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Seamless Performance The new Samsung UT series of Super Narrow Bezel LCD screens delivers stunning image quality across multiple screens for a virtually seamless performance.

“World’s Thinnest Bezel for an LCD Large Format Screen.”

460UT, 460UTn and 460UTn-UD LCD Displays offer: • Commercial DID LCD for 24 hour 7 day usage.

• 700 NITS brightness with 3000:1 Contrast ratio.

• 460UTn includes integrated thin client PC with MagicInfo-i digital signage client server software.

• 460UTn-UD Ultra Definition model lets you display any combination of videos, streaming content, ultra-high resolution images on up to 250 monitors from up to 125 input sources.

• Bezel width 2.4mm right and bottom 4.3mm top and left for image to image gap of 6.7mm.

• Compatible with the MID-2 Video Wall Kit (optional) for free standing video wall applications.

2.4mm BEZEL!

For more information on the new Samsung UT series Screens, contact your Samsung Distributor:

moving with technology

WORLDS BEST TECHNOLOGY

Ph: 1300 362 363 www.wbtd.com.au sales@wbtd.com.au

Ph: 07 3866 5000 evan@xitd.com.au

Ph: 03 9541-8841 sales@westan.com.au www.westan.com.au

www.samsunglfd.com Ph: 1300 666 099 sales@idt.com.au www.idt.com.au

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flit

Monkey Magic on Cloud 9 Now’s the time to waggle two fingers in front of your pursed lips and make that flicky/blowy noise.

Don’t play dumb with me… you know what I’m talking about. And don’t pretend you’ve not tried on the bad lip sync martial arts chitchat!

Monkey Magic is a funky new Surry Hills eatery that channels the good vibrations of the cult Japanese TV show. It brings a touch of New York flair to the Sydney food scene with exposed brickwork, a quirky open-plan layout and recycled timber flooring. The restaurant has a multi-tiered Japanesestyle layout with street-side lounge and upstairs bar, dining area and open kitchen. Connecting the different spaces is a two-storey tree sculpture using plantation tree trunks in their natural form.

Designed by Pat Laoyont from Archstallation, who previously designed Spice I Am in Darlinghurst, it combines raw materials and earthy colours. Sandblasted brickwork, stained timber flooring and exposed industrial ducting create a modern rustic look. The kitchen wall features a laser-cut rusted steel artwork, created by contemporary artist Kyoshi. Downstairs, a black Pandomo floor and rendered plaster walls make for a sophisticated New York-style bar.

Chef Hidetoshi Tsuboi (pictured right) takes care of the food combining traditional Oriental flavours with modern Western techniques. The Monkey Magic cocktails have also set tongues wagging. I like the sound of The Dr Zeuss!: a psychedelic mix of gin, St. Germain liqueur, absinthe, lemon, cucumber, egg white and soda. Hey Piggsy! » Monkey Magic: 410 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW (02) 9358 4444 or www.monkeymagic.com.au

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The World’s Purest White Imagine the Difference

Pure White. One of nine new colours.

For our latest brochure phone 1300 119 119 www.caesarstone.com.au

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flit

A Fresh Tower The Crown Towers guest rooms have been given the full makeover, short of a trip to the day spa. Although, that could be a moot point, given the refreshed spa-like bathrooms have double glass doors that open into a stream-lined, white and chrome bathroom adorned with chandeliers hung from a higher ceiling, a rain shower, shower wand, deep soak bath and a double vanity. Sharing a room with a friend might be a little strange though, with a few discreet glass shields the only thing between the shower and toilet, and outside. The original interior designer, Bates Smart, was asked back to reinvent the rooms, varying the look from suite to suite. The colour palette and textures may be unique to each space, but not the luxury. There are high-thread count custom-designed linen, beds with leather base, grass weave natural fibre wallpaper, walk-in robes with a leather storage area like an old leather steamer trunk, an iHome for your iPod, and an IP touch telephony system to make sure all the technology bases are covered. The minibars have been transformed from merely the last place you want to buy a snack to a captivating fully stocked cocktail cabinet that’s still the last place you want to buy a snack. For those in need of a real cocktail fix, the Tower suite has a six-seater private dining room and a full cocktail bar. While Premier suites now have twin chaise lounges that take advantage of the skyline.

Artwork has been commissioned throughout the hotel, consisting primarily of works from Victorian artists, including David Band, Cornwell Design and Belinda Fox, and a new sculpture titled Ovaloid sitting in the lobby. » Crown Towers: 1800 811 653 or www.crownmelbourne.com.au » Bates Smart: (03) 8664 6200 or www.batessmart.com.au

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p: 1300 727 637 | f: 02 9796 7800 | info@bseatedglobal.com | www.bseatedglobal.com.au

Fresh Look Of Belair The Belair Hotel has been flip-turned upside down, transforming it into the fresh prince of Belair — in Adelaide that is. Enoki design firm has just finished the second stage of redevelopments at the South Australian hotel and taken the venue up a few classes in the process. The idea was to turn the Belair into a landmark hotel in the Adelaide Hills by mixing a family space with contemporary design that people would cross town for. Enoki is a multidisciplinary firm and brings a collection of talents to the design, including a range of custom graphic wallpapers to suit the uniquely different areas: a leafy forest and some fiction in the bistro, animals in the kids room, and white silhouettes of winter trees in the foyer — even the toilets feature full-sized Adam and Eve’s on the doors. To cater for their broad demographic, the hotel has devised three types of dining experiences in the one bistro — there are lounges, raised communal dining and standard yet flexible seating that’s all centred around a fireplace and feed from the one main bar. The Belair also has gaming and a den bar, and the new facilities and design have people coming back to the hotel in droves.

» Belair Hotel: 131 Main Rd, Blackwood SA (08) 8278 8777 or www.belairhotel.com.au » Enoki: (08) 8271 5500 or www.enoki.com.au

We Make Seating Simple

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Bankstown Sports Club Paynter Dixon Managing Director Greg Howard has been working with Bankstown Sports Club for over two decades, adjusting the club’s master plan through various stages of its successful expansion into neighbouring properties. The latest string in the Bankstown bow is the Grand Ballroom, a multi-purpose event space that will hold up to 2000 when Stage 2 of the development is complete. Thanks to some great innovation on the behalf of Paynter Dixon’s design and construction, and in no small part, AV consultants Haron Robson, the Grand Ballroom fills many gaps in many markets — whether it be sideshows for major international touring acts, small to Greek weddings, conventions, new car launches, you name it, the Grand Ballroom can handle it.

Howard walked <venue> through some of the innovations that have already put the Ballroom at the pointy end of event spaces in the country.

Firstly, the entire space is modular and can function as one large room, or many smaller rooms, catering for functions as small as 100. And if, say, a wedding blows out to Greek proportions, the rooms can be expanded to accommodate and still have plenty of adjoining rooms for a wedding breakfast, pre-function areas, and soon enough, a chapel. The tiled pre-function area is also accessible via a lift that’s big enough to lift 4WDs up to the convention level — perfect for the next Holden product launch. In the Ballroom, along with modular rooms, there is also no fixed stage; instead stages can be set up in a wide variety of configurations. The space is almost free of columns to maintain sightlines, but like most modern facilities, there are drop-down screens to fill in the blindspots.

No one is overlooked, even the artists upstairs have access to a central green room that services the various spaces in the newly-expanded facility, properly catered for with ‘the works’ — screens, audio, food and beverage.

Working on large events spaces can be a drag, but Paynter Dixon thought of the staff too with multiple food and beverage points that localise the services. “Whether it’s three rooms, two rooms or one large room, the food needs to be located so it can be quickly and easily distributed throughout the facility. That way you don’t have staff walking from the long end of one room to service the other,” explained Howard.

Another sticking point with most big venues is their inability to properly handle the diverse audio of functions, which can range from searing rock bands to just a single speaking voice. The acoustics in the ballroom were devised so that a loud band can be playing with patrons still able to hold a conversation across the table. And plenty of soundproofing material has gone into the layer between the Ballroom and the hotel above, keeping everyone happy.

One of the aspects that Howard and his team noticed when touring a lot of other spaces in Sydney was that each had issues with efficiency when changing between themed functions. If, for instance, one company’s Christmas lunch is followed by another’s Christmas dinner (both with different themes), then most venues would move all the furniture to make way for cherry pickers to get to the rigging. “We’ve designed a ceiling that can be lowered in panels,” said Howard. “So you can drop the truss down to a couple of metres off the floor, and the tables can remain in place while any rigging needs to be done. It dramatically cuts down on setup time. Also, if you walk into any conventional conference room, they’ve nearly all got square ceilings with coffers, and they still end up with problems getting the lighting to cover the whole room. What we did was to turn the ceiling, lighting and grids in the Ballroom into a diamond shape.

I remember when we first suggested this, the consultants said, ‘oh no, that shouldn’t be done, because nobody’s done it’. Well I told them to go and do some analysis and write a report on it, and bring it back and let me know what the downsides were. They went away, evaluated it all and said, ‘There are no downsides, only upsides. We can get better coverage.’ It’s making the room more practical in terms of light and sound, and it gives the room a new architectural look.”

As always, with Paynter Dixon and their impeccable master planning, the building works have been devised such that the project can be expanded without affecting the current operations. It also has great views to the rest of the club, including the vibey La Piazza Italian precinct, smoking terraces, and will be on the ‘Yellow Brick Road’, a circulation path that will run through and tie together the entire first floor area.

» Bankstown Sports Club: 8 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown, NSW (02) 9722 9888 or www.bankstownsports.com » Paynter Dixon: (02) 9797 5555 or www.paynterdixon.com.au

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avmatters.wattmatters.lightmatters

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visit

Spice Temple Neil Perry has a new Chinese restaurant… just don’t expect any dim sims.

Text: Christopher Holder Photography: Marcus Clinton

M

any 30-plus Australians remember their first eating out experience as that trip to the local Chinese restaurant. The lazy susan would be groaning under the weight of sweet & sour pork, beef in black bean sauce, spring rolls, prawn crackers, all topped off with lychees and fried icecream. You beaut! Red velour chairs, flocked wallpaper, tassled lanterns and an MSG headache all set off a perfect evening.

Neil Perry’s Spice Temple has little in common with the ‘Red Dragons’ or ‘Peking Citys’ of yore. In fact, if you asked for a Combination Chicken Chow Mein you’d probably be handed your coat. Instead, Spice Temple is a modern, dramatic, sexy yet not overlyadorned restaurant that focusses on authentic flavours and a sophisticated atmosphere.

On the Down Low Turning the restaurant’s CBD site into a swanky restaurant wasn’t without its challenges. Unlike most primo eateries in Sydney where 270° beachside vistas and 50th-floor vertigo are all par for the course, Spice Temple plumbs the depths of downtown real estate — the level is called the ‘sub basement’… any deeper and you’d need to wear hi-viz clothing.

To compound the ‘challenges’, the entrance is singularly without fanfare — a single door.

Neil Perry and his business partners, Trish Richards

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and David Doyle, turned to their traditional design co-conspirators, Bates Smart — led by Director Simon Swaney and Associate Grant Cheyne — for help, and they’ve done a splendid job.

There aren’t any obvious Asian references in the architecture but it has that oriental whiff of intrigue about it, heightened by the amazing lighting design from Flaming Beacon. All the furnishings, decorative light fittings, joinery and carpets were custom designed for Spice Temple, and commissioned photographic portraits by Earl Carter of striking Asian women add a glam touch. In short, it’s a lovely restaurant: great food and ambience without stuffiness or hubris.

Spice of Life venue tracked Neil Perry down to talk shop. venue: The quirky underground location, the ambience and the food; it feels like the look and feel of Spice Temple has been brewing in the back of your mind for some time.

Neil Perry: You’re right, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for some time. Not unlike Bar & Grill. When I opened that in Melbourne — what with my love for meat and the history of my father and three brothers being butchers — I’d been thinking about opening a steakhouse for more than 10 years. Now Spice Temple explores my history with Chinese food.

As you descend into the restaurant, you feel it has a soul, a philosophy, something that drives it

All Spice: Baci Moore, Restaurant Manager (left) with Head Chef Andy Evans and Neil Perry, Owner and Executive Chef.

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I really wanted to create a Chinese restaurant that reflected all the parts of China I really like — not just Cantonese food. And I wanted to create a restaurant that fitted in with the rest of the Rockpool family, which is all about the quality of the ingredients.

In the case of Spice Temple, it’s all rare breed pigs and organic chickens, simply prepared with Chinese seasoning. It’s about eating well, eating great ingredients and something that’s really quite different but very authentically Chinese. venue: Practically, how did Spice Temple come together?

NP: One of the things we recognised early on was that we were working with a subterranean space in a city like Sydney where the weather’s beautiful, and we have a shopfront which is exactly one doorway wide. It was a pretty bold move. And because of the constraints of the site we felt we really needed to make the restaurant an experience, where people would take much more than the quality of food away from it.

From that point on, my vision for the food and my brief to the designers took over. It’s then that you need an architect or designer [Bates Smart] that really understands the nature of the restaurant you’re trying to create. We also knew straight off the bat we needed Flaming Beacon on board as the lighting designers. The restaurant is about food, light and music. Music and light create the intimacy in what’s a fairly densely populated space. Next, music was important to me, so I needed to have Anton Monsted on board, who’s a friend and works as Baz Luhrmann’s music director. I trusted him to interpret the brief, which he did brilliantly. venue: What aspects of the process do you most enjoy?

NP: Pulling together the whole package to make it a complete restaurant. It’s not just about finding a funky design, or sourcing some cool music or ensuring the food is excellent, we thought about every single aspect. As you descend into the restaurant, you feel it has a soul, a philosophy, something that drives it. It’s really ‘Spice Temple’.

International Perry venue: How much interest do you get from property developers and big hotels; requests to open another Rockpool and to sprinkle some Neil Perry fairy dust on their venture?

NP: I would get at least one really good offer a week. Last week it was Bangkok, the week before China... At one point I spent six months saying ‘no’ to a different developer every week from Dubai. venue: Tempting?

NP: Sometimes. One particularly tempting offer was on a fantastic space in Tokyo — I’d just love to have some Japanese staff because I think they’re fantastic. But we’re determined to remain owner operators. We may do some restaurants overseas — maybe LA and London — but we really would rather not do them under a license agreement, which is what the hotels and developers are mostly offering.

These offers are also tempting because finding the sites, writing the briefs and coming up with the concepts is just as exciting as the cooking and dealing with the staff. Openings are hell but an awesome amount of fun as well. And an incredibly unique experience. One team of people will experience those first months and in the history of the restaurant that will never be repeated.

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Best China: The dining room is intimate, relaxed and sexy, with subtle influences of the exotic street hawker food markets in China. The chairs are from Thonet, custom carpet from Brintons and Eco-Panel acoustic ceiling baffles from Woven Image.

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Go Fish Neil Perry’s flagship fine dining Sydney restaurant, Rockpool, went through a significant upheaval in the last 12 months, copping a full refit and personality change to become Rockpool Fish. It was clearly an unsatisfactory move for Neil because only a few short months later he closed the doors and returned the restaurant back to its 20-year Rockpool roots. venue: What’s the real story behind Rockpool’s turbulent transition to Rockpool Fish and back?

NP: Around the time I turned 50 there was a beatup in the Sydney media about Rockpool. I thought it was unfair and I just got to the point where I thought ‘bugger it, I don’t need this in my life’. Then after about six months I realised I did need it.

So, I may have lost a lot of money there, but one of the most exciting things was that we’re right back to what we do really well. And we’re really passionate about it. venue: Right. Sounds like expensive ‘therapy’.

NP: Sure. But Rockpool is the place where I cook my food and I’m now working with Phil Wood — a young chef who I employed earlier in the year — on a level that’s exciting. When I’m doing Rockpool Bar & Grill or Spice Temple, that’s very prescriptive, where I just want to have the best of something that’s already there.

Meanwhile, at Rockpool I’m really creating food that I think is different and interesting and I realised that I didn’t feel whole without it. venue: So the lesson is to ignore the critics?

NP: If someone says the restaurant is great then fine, or if someone says the restaurant is bad then so be it, I just try and make sure we do the best we possibly can and focus on the customers. venue: Many suspected that the Rockpool upheaval was an indication that the salad days of fine dining were over.

NP: Really good restaurants are doing well and the bad ones are being weeded out. Everyone who is doing something good — whether it’s making a great cup of coffee or fine dining — then they’re doing good business. On many levels you’re delivering an experience. People don’t want to just go out for food or go out for a glass of wine or simply for the ambience; they want to go out for the whole kit and kaboodle.

«

» Spice Temple: 10 Bligh Street, Sydney NSW

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(02) 8078 1888 or www.spicetemple.com

» Bates Smart: (03) 8664 6200 or www.batessmart.com.au » Flaming Beacon: (03) 9606 0255 or tfb@tfb.com.au

Erinna timber back European beech chair. Stained to match Architect supplied colour sample. Pamplona ‘Henna’ leather seat pad.

Thonet: 1800 800 777 or www.thonet.com.au

Temple Sound Neil Perry had quite a specific and specialised brief for the Spice Temple sound system. This was not your average ‘dot the boxes around’ distributed mono sound system. The system was run in stereo pairs, such that each seat in the house would enjoy a stereo image. Flick ahead to our Sound Special for a more detailed sonic profile.

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SOHO BAR

After suffering under crippling noise restrictions Andrew Lazarus’ venue is back from the dead.

Text: Heather Barton

T

he Soho was to Sydney’s underground in the ’80s and ’90s, what the Royal George Hotel (now the Hemmesoperated Slip Inn) was to the Push in the ’50s and ’60s.

A hotbed of music, art, ideas, sexual adventure, the odd wake, and not a little bad behaviour, everyone seems to have a Soho story.

As the designers of its new fitout, Patricia Bondin and Antonia Presenti at MAKE, said, “No matter whom we mentioned this job to everybody had something happen at the Soho.” Including your humble correspondent, whose tiny garret window once was directly in line with the full brunt of a Soho bass bin.

Not surprisingly then, a clear driver for the operators, The Eastern Hotels Group, in undertaking the fitout, was to address the acoustic problems within the venue in response to noise complaints from a small but vocal minority. (Although, frankly, if you are too old to get up and go to where the music is, you have no business living in the vicinity of such a venue — take it from me.)

Another was dealing with State licensing regulation that had seen 10-minute ‘time outs’ enforced after midnight at certain venues, including the Soho. This meant service had to stop for 10 minutes every hour and cocktail, shot and doubles service, cease altogether after 12.00am.

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Paying Through the Noise Owner, Andrew Lazarus, who runs the Group with brother-in-law Colin Parras, said, “The liquor restrictions were costing us $10,000 a week. So we had to change the nature of our business. We had to get people into the venue earlier because the bulk of our trade was limited to after midnight. And we had to install soundproofing to address the noise complaint.

“We essentially had to offer a new ‘product’. The best platform from which to signal that we had something new to offer was a renovation of the premises.”

Soundproofing, for those unaware, is a painfully expensive and involved process. So much so, it made what was left in the budget for design tight.

“The sound proofing eliminated the noise complaint,” said Lazarus, “but cost $100,000 without providing $100,000 worth of impact for the patrons in terms of their perceptions and experience. We needed a design solution to provide that punch.”

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On the MAKE Enter MAKE. Their design for the Soho offers a number of different venues and experiences within the one site — a kind of boutique super-club. The upstairs ‘Aviary’ is a sophisticated, highly theatrical lounge bar revealing a view of the city skyline over the cathedral. Oversized Alice in Wonderland-like furniture, cut out caricatures of trees and forest creatures and a canopy of glossy red birdcages create a captivatingly playful space. An intimate conversation lounge area provides transition out to the open-air balcony and down stairs the Club provides a mesmerising assault on the senses in a dance space that is constantly transformed through clever design and lighting, controlled and manipulated from the DJ console.

Bondin said, “We came up with a solution which resolved the acoustic issues in the club, to integrate design, lighting and sound and create a total sensory experience.

“Inspired by crystalline forms, we developed a three dimensional surface or skin, enveloping the walls and ceilings to form an endless series of reflective triangular forms. These optically transfixing forms constantly transform the space through changing light, colour and mood while the perforations in the folded sheet steel assist in sound absorption.”

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The liquor restrictions were costing us $10,000 a week. So we had to change the nature of our business — Andrew Lazarus, Owner

LED Possibilities MAKE collaborated with lighting and sound consultants, DJW Projects, so the hundreds of coloured LEDs projected onto the faceted and fragmented backdrop can be programmed with endless possibilities.

Lazarus said, “The designers are the heroes of this project. I have nothing but glowing things to say about Patricia and her team at MAKE. I have done a lot of refurbishments and this is by far the most cost-effective, high-impact result. The design has translated into increased patronage and profits.

The Soho Bar used the refit to upgrade to an EAW Avalon sound system. Avalon is designed specifically for nightclubs and has a healthy variety of models in the series to suit any club install.

“While the licensing regulations and noise complaints cost us dearly, as a result of making the changes we will come out in a much stronger position, especially when the licensing regulations change in December due to a change in criteria.

This has very much been a good luck story.”

So it seems like everyone will keep having Soho stories to tell.

«

» Soho Bar: 171 Victoria Street, Potts Point NSW (02) 9358 6511 or info@sohobar.com.au

» MAKE: (02) 93999872 or www.make.net.au » DJW Projects: (02) 9114 9993 or www.djwprojects.com.au

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»

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Dockside Finds The

Upside Two of The Dockside Group’s venues come out of a long, hard winter’s hibernation.

Text: Mark Davie

O

ver the Winter, events calendars get about as bare as a deciduous tree. And with the global downturn still biting, business has relentlessly pruned their events expenditure, making for an especially barren winter for function venues. But it all played into the hands of The Dockside Group.

Two of its star performers, Dockside and L’Aqua, were due for a revamp, and they unwittingly stumbled onto the very best… erm worst, Winter in many a year to close for renovations. So while everyone struggled through the coldest Winter in a long while Dockside was snoozing, only to emerge as the belle of the ball right in time for party season.

McCann Do Dockside and L’Aqua have been around for a while, the former for a decade and L’Aqua only a couple of years younger.

The Dockside Group’s General Manager, Philip Beauchamp explained that their time in the spotlight was waning, everyone had seen it all before and newer and brighter venues were

popping up and stealing their top-end business. To reinstate some class, The Dockside Group enlisted designer du jour Michael McCann of Dreamtime Australia Design.

If ever there was someone who knows how to spruce up events business with some swanky design, then McCann would be your man. For one, his background in the make or break world of five-star hotel dining has given him a particular eye for the flow of services and how they fit. Given that function centres fly meals out kitchen doors at a work rate similar to an F1 pit crew, it’s a very useful insight to have. And if there was a McCann tour of his latest award-winning venues, then you’d see a link between his designs, it’s all about warm tones, textures and lighting, with extravagance mostly saved for functional ingenuity; like exposing (Sydney restaurant) Pony’s kitchens, a move that simultaneously pushed dining out onto the street, and forced the council to open the disused cobblestone laneway for trade — ingenious.

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High Impact Audiovisuals Impact AV is the in-house AV provider for The Dockside Group and installed the first systems at both venues. Second time around the upgrade is substantial and makes sure everyone in the house is part of the experience. Silas Creel from Impact AV: “The sound system in Dockside gives excellent uniform sound throughout the venue with a lot of punch to get the client’s message across, even with a noisy audience.

The vocals are crisp and clear, making sure what is being said is being heard. It can be one large system or separated into up to six smaller systems. The projectors in this system are twice as bright as the previous projectors, giving outstanding clarity and brightness to each client’s video/data presentation. The screens are now multi-format allowing 4x3 and 16x9 perspectives on the same screen.

Bright screens with a good data resolution, means all of the audience can see the presentation, no matter where they are seated, and with this many screens there isn’t a bad seat in the house.

Martin’s new Smart Macs are the latest in hi-tech lighting. And the best thing about these moving light fixtures? No fans. That means no loud cooling fans during your presentations and fewer distractions. The lighting system in Dockside is controlled by a Jands Vista PC-based lighting console, allowing greater flexibility and control over any last minute lighting changes. A good array of lighting equipment allows for flexibility in lighting design, and this setup will easily do daytime conferences and night-time gala dancefloors.”

» Impact AV: 1300 633 328 or www.impactav.com.au

It’s a similar approach at Dockside. The multi-million dollar refit includes all the hallmark McCann touches; natural textures such as a mixture of rough hewn stone and driftwood-coloured timber walls, timber beam and coffered ceilings, with signature ‘fishing net’ custom-designed pendant lights and customdesigned Tai Ping carpets. But again the ingenuity lies in the way McCann reappropriates space. Even though the brief started out as a just a refit of existing surfaces, McCann managed to squeeze in two permanent bars, saving workers time and effort, and patrons from the clinking glass and ice bucket noises of impromptu drinks station builds. “It gives more of a restaurant feel,” explains Beauchamp, “We’ve done away with the trestle table, banquet-style look we used to set up in the room itself. We wanted to get our efficiency right. The bars are behind roller shutters,

so they can appear or disappear immediately, you don’t need the time to build a portable solution or have the associated noise.”

Efficiency was also a driving factor for the audiovisual decisions in both rooms. Impact AV — designer, provider and installer of the system — put in a ton of fanless moving lights, projectors, motorised screens and networked audio. “Our turnaround time was one of the things we were looking at to drive some efficiency. You don’t need to get up in the roof and reset lighting in the rooms. It makes it easier for the guests but it also makes it easier for us to speed up our process,” said Beauchamp.

Injecting Some Green Back Although Dockside is the Group’s largest venue, L’Aqua has its measure in the heritage department.

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The venue used to be Ampersand, ex-Melbournian Tony Bilson’s restaurant, which was at the vanguard of the fine-dining push in the Harbour City following the success of Melbourne’s Southbank precinct. It was an iconic restaurant in its day before it became Liberté restaurant, which was another Melbournian, Philippe Mouchel’s, brief flirtation with Sydney, lasting about a year till he packed up and headed off to Tokyo, before eventually moving back to Melbourne to open The Brasserie at Crown. Naturally, Beauchamp wanted to continue this tradition of finery, and set about turning L’Aqua’s second room, the Gold

Room, into “the best private dining room in Sydney, as opposed to just a function room.”

McCann ups the ante in the glamorous Gold Room, debunking my ‘restraint-on-extravagance’ theories with a private entrance, gold-rubbed leather and timber walls, a gilded uplit feature wall, an antique golden octagonal ceiling crowning the similarly-shaped room, luxurious Tai Ping carpet to match the design and a stunning Swarovski crystal cherry blossom chandelier to top it all off. “It’s an octagonal room, so it’s already quite unusual, and what Michael did was make it more

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L’Aqua Audiovisuals 12 x Martin Audio W 0.5 loudspeakers 3 x Yamaha amplifiers 2 x Soundcraft audio consoles 1 x Panasonic PT-D5700E projector 3 x Panasonic PT-D3500E projector 1 x Screen Technics 14x10 motorised screen 3 x Screen Technics 10x7.5 motorised screens Extron splitting and switching systems 4 x Martin Mac 250s 4 x Martin MX10s 8 x theatrical profile lights 2 x Jands 12-channel lighting dimmers 2 x Jands lighting desks

» Technical Audio Group (Martin Audio): (02) 9519 0900 or info@tag.com.au

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» Show Technology (Martin Lights): (02) 9748 1122 or www.showtech.com.au

lush,” noted Beauchamp. It seems McCann does what needs doing, and L’Aqua needed to pull its weight in the primo end of the market — even to the extent of hiring a firm to rub the gold dome till its shiny gold leaf reached a more acceptable antique lustre.

L’Aqua’s main room was also a departure from McCann’s signature tones, unsettling a few nerves along the way.

Apparently The Dockside Group surveyed about 1000 planners and clients to get their brief right, and found

polarised views on whether a function space should have its own personality or not. Michael McCann was clearly of the ‘personality is good’ persuasion and snuck some turquoise into L’Aqua’s design to suit the more avant garde planner. Beauchamp, had reservations, but insists it’s “turned out to be very positive”. And anyway, if the colourway doesn’t suit, the main wall’s turquoise panels can be flipped around to reveal classic function-al white, and a return to Dreamtime form.

«

SOUND SPECIAL

Moving Light Martin Smart Mac www.showtech. com.au

Projector Panasonic PTD5500E www.panasonic. com.au Loudspeakers JBL AC28/26 2-way ultra-compact www.jands.com.au In-Ceiling Speakers JBL Control 24CTM www.jands.com.au

Screen Screen Technics multi-format motorised screen www.screentechnics. com.au

» Dockside: The Balcony Level, Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Park Sydney NSW 1300 117 118 or www.docksidevenue.com.au

» L’Aqua: The Roof Terrace, Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Park Sydney NSW 1300 117 118 or www.laqua.com.au

» Dreamtime Australia Design: (02) 9368 0800 or www.dreamtimeaustraliadesign.com

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Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre The biggest, most sophisticated convention centre in the southern hemisphere is now open for business.

Text: Christopher Holder

Foyer — Another Venue The foyer is yet another venue waiting to happen. It’s fully equipped with food and beverage docking stations.

Overhead are quality JBL in-ceiling speakers. In fact, all ceiling speakers in the MCEC are part of a dual-function network that provides background music, paging and event-specific zoned sound, and evacuation and emergency warning system. It’s built on a Bosch Praesideo framework.

Digital signage abounds: ranging from 19-inch LCD screens and slender, rearprojected glass panels to walls of Barco iLite LED tiles. Each screen is driven by a local Wincomm signage player.

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Some 12,000sqm of exhibition space, grand gestures such as a dome, a great hall, giant entry portals, versatile display areas, axial planning as well as complementary gardens and viewing areas… something Melbourne could be proud of. The opening event went off like a fire cracker, 1.5 million visitors filed through the doors shining the international spotlight on one of the great cities of the world. Unfortunately, the audiovisual infrastructure’s diabolical… non-existent even — electricity would help, but that didn’t come along until decades later!

South Wharf. The Melbourne Convention Centre is a significant undertaking, transforming the MEC into the MCEC; the biggest facility of its type south of the equator, and providing Melbourne with the credentials to be a genuine player in the international exhibition/conferencing market. And make no mistake, competition is fierce. Not only do you have to slug it out in the domestic market — Perth, Cairns, Gold Coast, Sydney, Adelaide and Darwin all have excellent facilities — you’re up against Hong Kong, San Francisco, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and others.

Of course, I’m referring to Melbourne’s original expo space back in the 1800s when exhibitions really came into their own. The western world was covered in a greasy film of industrial revolution soot, and World Fairs were a unique way of exchanging information and seeing the latest steam-powered contraptions. Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building was built for just such an expo in 1880, and for a city of 280,000 it was a phenomenon.

To land the big conferencing fish you need to have the full package; a compelling story to tell; something that ticks all the boxes. The MCEC looks to have this covered. For starters, it’s the first six-star energy rated conference centre in the world.

Then there’s the much vaunted plenary hall — the state-of-theart 5553-seat multi-function theatre capable of handling just about any international conference.

It also goes to show there’s nothing new about the exhibition and conferencing game. Facilities have been built for hundreds of years now, and the selling points are essentially the same: providing a convenient way of convening large numbers of people so that information can be effectively communicated and business transacted.

The (Not So) Brief venue caught up with MCEC’s CEO Leigh Harry, who, along with Director of Operations Frank Mohren and Project Manager David Sheehan, managed the construction of the new facility. Enormous undertakings like this can all too often be sidetracked or even derailed as the various contractors and stakeholders jockey for a bigger piece of the financial pie.

To keep the project steaming along ‘on track’ MCEC had a plan — ‘The Brief’ — a 500-page document that embodied

Global Player Visitors and residents of Melbourne will have noticed serious activity on the banks of the Yarra — they call the new area

MCEC FAST FACTS The 66,000sqm convention centre and surrounding precinct is a partnership project between the Victorian Government, the Melbourne City Council and the Plenary Group consortium.

The centre includes: • A 5553-seat plenary hall that configures to suit a range of events – from full plenary or grand auditorium to smaller concurrent conferences of 500-plus delegates, cabaret or flat floor banquet.

• A 1500-seat Grand Banquet room.

• 32 meeting rooms of various sizes.

• A convention centre integrated with the Melbourne Exhibition Centre that’s now one of the world’s most comprehensive meeting spaces.

• A six green star enironmentally-rated convention centre, providing conference delegates with a natural and healthy environment. The provision of fresh air at low level and a maximum of natural light provide a dual benefit: visitor comfort, and a reduction in the volume of natural resources required to operate a typical facility of this nature.

• An 18m-high glass wall façade front to the Yarra River.

• An entry level foyer for 8400 guests.

• Four entry points to the convention centre from the exhibition centre, the Hilton hotel and the river promenade.

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the management group’s expectations of what this facility could and should be. The Brief didn’t have any drawings or design intents — all that was left to the architects — rather, it provided a minimum expectation. From there the workshops had a foundation upon which to build:

Meeting Rooms & Grand Ballroom Every meeting room has a complete, ready-to-roll AV system. The facilities include a MCEC lectern, a motorised rolldown 16:9 LP Morgan screen, a Barco HD projector, a Sony HD 3CCD PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) camera, and a pair of Nexo speakers (PS8 or PS10). The backrom brains behind the AV includes an Extron ISM 824 scaling multiswitcher, and a Biamp AudiaFlex audio DSP. Each room is controlled by a wireless AMX touchpanel. The AMX system controls video and audio source selection, IPTV channel selection, projection screens, video replay, audio levels, video conferencing, air conditioning, the Dynalite room lighting controls and the PTZ camera. Perhaps the most important function on the AMX panel is the Help button that hollers for technical assistance from the duty control room technician.

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Leigh Harry: During these workshops — where the builders, the architects, management and subcontractors such as Rutledge were involved — The Brief was a really important document. There were times when there was a lot of tension, as you’d expect, because you’re asking people to deliver against a very detailed brief, knowing there’s a set amount of money, and there’s always inherent conflicts about how much money you’re going to spend on the design as distinct from the function.

The interesting thing about this process, in a working relationship sense, has been how closely Plenary, Brookfield Multiplex and guys like Rutledge and ourselves have been able to work together. Because, in theory, management reports to one government department that then reports to another, that then has the contract with Plenary that deals with Brookfield and Rutledge. But if we had been communicating like that, we would have gotten nowhere.

Instead, everybody was prepared to work together, knowing there’d be moments of tension and conflict, but that relationship over four years has been critical to the outcome.

The Plenary The plenary hall is much more than a big theatre. Not only is the hall capable of seating 5553 conference delegates, it can easily become three fully-functional, acoustically-isolated theatres, two of which seat 1507 and the third 2569.

While using operable walls to divide a room isn’t exactly ground-breaking, the capability of converting a 1525-seat lower level of the venue from tiered theatrical seating, to flat-floor seating, or cleared flat floor, or tiered conference seating, or tiered cabaret floor, or dozens of other possible floor configurations — each in under 10 minutes — makes this plenary hall a cut above the average. The technology behind the quick-change seating options is the Spiralift from Gala Systems.

The PA speakers throughout all venues and conference rooms are Nexo.

In the Plenary the FOH systems combine Geo-D line arrays with Geo sub cabinets, while PS8s are used as front fills and under balcony fills on the second tier, and PS10s are used for upper balcony fills. The Nexo speakers are powered by Camco amps. Each of the three rooms of the plenary have a Digico D1 mixing console, while Shure UHF-R series wireless microphones are used.

Lighting in the plenary comprised two dozen Selecon Pacific zoom profiles, two dozen ETC Source Four zoom profiles and two dozen ETC Source Four Junior zoom profiles. There are also two dozen each of Selecon’s 2kW, 1kW and 650W fresnel spots and 20 ETC Source Four Pars. Throw in a Selecon four-colour cyclorama wash system and four of Selecon’s rather useful Rua followspots and you have a capable rig that will cover plenty of speech nights, AGMs and conference sessions. The dozen Varilite VL500 wash lights and the dozen VL2500 spot fixtures add some colour and movement.

The main Stewart projection screen has an 18,000 ANSI lumen FLMHD18 Barco projector pointing at it, while the two side rooms each get a 14k FLMHD14, all of them being native HD resolution (as with every other projector in the MCEC).

To provide quality video images to audience members off to the sides, there are two additional screens of Barco iLite 6mmpitch LED tiles that can be positioned on either side of the stage opening.

venue: And what did The Brief mean for Rutledge and the supply and installation of all the audiovisual equipment?

Shane Cannon, Rutledge Engineering: The Brief was much more than a shopping list detailing the need for XYZ projectors, for example, it was also about workflow and how XYZ projectors would integrate into the facility as a whole — its role. And The Brief represented the client’s intent, so it was good to get the client on board from day one instead of having to introduce ourselves at the end of the process.

Leigh Harry: Which is what happened to us next door during the building phase of the exhibition centre — as management we weren’t allowed anywhere near the place — ludicrous. Then we were handed the keys for that building only seven weeks prior to the biggest exhibition ever to be staged in this country — that was the first time we’d even been allowed to set foot inside the door. Just nonsense. So there was a real determination to not repeat those mistakes.

Green Credentials The new convention centre exalts in the title of ‘Australia’s greenest convention facility’, with an impressive six green star environmental rating.

Among the various measures taken to boost the new

centre’s green credentials are a foyer displacement ventilation strategy and chilled slab, where cool air is supplied at low velocity and low level rather than blasting in from overhead. The system provides a better sense of cooling as air will require less fan force, which itself offers greater energy efficiency. The design’s maximisation of its northern aspect will assist in keeping the MCEC passively warm in winter, while energy-efficient hydronic heating picks up the slack in winter months. Advanced on-site water and waste treatment facilities are also addressed, as were the construction materials, public transport access… and the list goes on. venue: Six stars seems above and beyond expectations.

Which party pursued the high rating and why?

Leigh Harry: The state government was looking for a four-star rated building and to the credit of the Plenary consortium, Brookfield Multiplex, Rutledge, everybody who’s been involved in this project, we’ve ended up with a six-star rating. The Plenary Group, as part of their bid process with their contractors, made it clear that a core element of them winning this bid would be to up the ante and go for six stars. Meanwhile, the state government had committed $370 million, and no more — there was no more money whether it was four-star or

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» MCEC: www.mcec.com.au » Rutledge Engineering: (03) 9488 1500 or www.rutledge.com.au » Woods Bagot (architects): www.woodsbagot.com.au » NH Architecture (architects): www.nharchitecture.net » Brookfield Multiplex: www.brookfieldmultiplex.com » AMX: sales@amxaust.com.au or www.amx.com.au » Audio Products Group (Biamp): www.audioproducts.com.au » Barco: (03) 9646 5833 or sales.au@barco.com » Bosch Communications: (02) 9638 4752 or boschcomms@au.bosch.com » Group Technologies (Nexo, Digico): www.grouptechnologies.com.au » Herma Technologies (LP Morgan): 1300 730 025 or info@herma.com.au » Jands (JBL, Shure, ETC, VariLite): (02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au » Philips Dynalite: 1300 554 178 or www.dynalite-online.com » Panasonic: 132600 or www.panasonic.com.au » Sony: www.sony.com.au

six-star. So Plenary and their partners took that on as their investment, and I have no doubt that it’s already proving to be a significant factor in the marketplace. venue: That all sounds quite altruistic but a six-star rating will obviously pay dividends with reduced running costs?

Leigh Harry: Sure, but it remains as a big investment by the Plenary Group and their partners. The reason I say that is because the utility costs of this building stay with us as the operator, so Plenary isn’t going to see the payback. The payback is actually all going back to the government as a reduction in operating costs as a result of reduced energy use.

Big Audiovisual Investment Big facilities like MCEC have every right to be suspicious of audiovisual investment. Screens, control systems and the like can all be obsolete before they’re even installed, and the running costs of managing, fault-

fixing and repairing that gear can be considerable.

Handballing the responsibility to someone else — letting them carry the capital and service costs — is an attractive proposition. MCEC has decided to shoulder the responsibility themselves.

Leigh Harry: Historically, we’ve always provided the audiovisual services in-house — going right back to the original convention centre — and we continue to do that. Saying that, it’s not a totally closed shop — we’ve always made arrangements for roadshows and the like, where people have their own production companies. And now we’ve taken the amount of technology in-house up another level. Although, we’re still not in the staging or theming business — apart from the lighting effects we can provide — so there is still ample opportunity for the other elements of the industry to show their wares at the MCEC, and since opening we’ve already seen some spectacular examples of that in this space.

«

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L SOUND SPECIA

r pote expense o art ry a ss e c e w xt: Ken Ste Audio: n Te

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sp nt money

inner?

M

usic defines a generation so it’s no surprise to see audio playback systems performing such an important role in a venue’s operational success. Whether a nightclub, restaurant or bar, music is pumped out of audio systems that are as diverse as the music played. So how much impact does music have on the bottom line? Can we optimise an audio system to enhance patronage and spending?

To get an insider’s opinion I’ve tracked down three very different entertainment industry professionals, to hear how audio has impacted the venues they’ve been involved with. There’s a top Aussie live mixer, an installation professional and a seasoned venue operator, all of whom give us some real-time practical insight.

The Live Mixer Simon Coates has recently completed a 40-date sell-out tour with Aussie Hip-Hop outfit Bliss n Eso, managing front of house and tour management duties. He’s had wide exposure to live rooms all around the country.

Simon Coates: I think audio is a major component in the delivery of the hospitality product. Giving the public not only a cold beer and a happy smile but also quality audio and visual entertainment. A quality audio system can be a major competitive advantage. venue: Do you find some venues are more on the ball than others with their sound and production?

SC: Definitely. The performers have to be happy on stage first and foremost. If they’re happy with the production and perform well, that filters through to the audience. If you get a few technical problems from a substandard system then the audience just dampens. venue: So a happy audience ultimately means a happy — and therefore we hope — profitable venue?

SC: Sure, and guarantees are usually higher for venues that are fully geared up, otherwise production has to be subbed in. It’s a major competitive advantage if you have a full system that caters for bigger bands. The whole investment is an essential element to the bottom line.

The Venue Installer Julian Lacey has a firm take on where audio sits in the entertainment mix. He’s been a leading Sydney DJ, hands-on at the Q-Bar and Peppermint Lounge and the man behind many other venue installations and fitouts.

Julian Lacey: Audio is one of the key elements that can define the success of a venue. With excessive noise complaints, DA restrictions can damage venues and stop them from trading.

Local councils are a bit indiscriminate with the way they apply the laws, so the best thing to do is

play it safe and stop complaints from happening in the first place. A venue can be set up to avoid these noise problems. venue: So what type of techniques would you use if you had a potential noise complaint problem?

JL: It sounds obvious, but a lot can be achieved with the direction you point the speakers. Highly directional sound ceilings [such as the Jbn system] are becoming more prevalent and can significantly reduce side-spill.

The Psychology

venue: Apart from noise complaints how can bad sound be bad for business?

Just how does music affect consumer behaviour?

JL: They can hurt your bar takings — never install speakers in front of a bar. I did a bar where there were loudspeakers either side of the bar and no one could hear anything. I just removed them and straight away the turnover for that bar went up $5000 a month. In another seated area we installed a discrete [multiple smaller speakers] audio system and lowered the volume, so people could hear themselves talk. Customers stayed longer talking, drank more, with turnover up 50%.

There’s plenty of research into this subject, indicating that music does indeed have a direct psychological effect on your customers’ buying behaviour. In one such study, findings indicated that jazz and Top 40 music were most associated with customers spending more money at a bar/ restaurant, and profits dropping when accompanied by easy listening or no music. As far as volume goes, sales per minute are higher when music is played loudly, as opposed to having soft background music. Another study found that slower music makes customers spend more time eating and drinking. Some patrons did not necessarily eat more with slow music but they drank far more.

Unfamiliar or unusual music is the best. Break out your Brian Eno and Radiohead records, crank up the volume and watch those cash registers ring. Slow-Loud-Unusual is the playlist!

The Venue Owner Harry Barry comes from a background as family man, venue operator, licensee and owner. He’s done the deal with pubs like the Bald Faced Stag, Plantation Hotel, the Hoey Moey and has experienced the results of these investments first hand. venue: You’ve always used audio as an essential component of your business model. How has that worked for you?

HB: I’ve always found that spending the money on a good installed sound system that’s designed for your space. If you rent the gear in, or you’re relying on the band for the gear, then the volume becomes out of your control… and you get shut down. Louder isn’t better. Get a high quality sound that you own and make sure the operator knows the system and the room. venue: So the sound guy can make a real difference?

HB: If he doesn’t know what he’s doing it can be a terrible show. The room has to be set up right for the size of the crowd. Top-notch equipment attracts top-notch bands. It’s got to be noticeable and impressive. We use trained house operators that will work with the bands and make changes as needed. Keep everyone happy and provide a good atmosphere. venue: Are there any other applications for audio?

HB: All of the bigger venues need not only the live music but function capabilities as well, so conferences and events can be held in rooms built for the occasion. Wireless mic systems, Powerpoint, audiovisual capabilities, you need to set up the infrastructure from the beginning.

SOUND SPECIAL

Boring But Important

Noise: No Complaints Text: Steve Williams

I

n this Sound Special you’ll read about how to improve atmosphere by focussing on aspects of sound within your venue. Noise and unwanted sound sets people on edge or detracts from the atmosphere you’ve carefully tried to propagate via interior design and architecture. The other side of the coin in this discussion — that’s admittedly boring but important — is noise that escapes your venue.

In crowded urban settings where people are living on top of bars and clubs, councils generally impose strict requirements with regards to noise levels between the hours of 11pm and 7am.

Therefore, careful consideration needs to be given to the amount of noise that a venue generates in the neighbourhood.

In order to understand the techniques used to reduce the amount of sound that escapes from a venue, we must first understand the characteristics of sound.

What is sound? It’s vibrating air molecules. Sound will act in a number of ways when it encounters a medium, such as a wall.

Some of the vibration will bounce off and some sound will pass through, or transmit vibration through the medium creating sound outside the venue. Along the way, some sound will be absorbed by the wall, or the vibration slowed by the medium and the sound will dissipates.

Soundproofing is a useful mechanism to reduce the reflecting and transmitting vibrations and increase the vibrations which are absorbed. This is done by creating density in the mediums which encourages airborne sound to be absorbed rather than reflect, and by implementing an element of separation thereby giving structure-borne sound passing through different mediums the opportunity to ‘collapse’ or dissipate, thereby preventing the noise from escaping.

Noise can transmit through any material including glass, timber, steel, concrete, and fibre cement sheeting. So not only do windows and doors require treatment, but so too walls, ceilings and floors. As such, each of these areas needs to be considered in design to prevent your venue from being labelled ‘a menace’ by the community or shunned by patrons or targeted as an unattractive venue by surrounding residents.

For soundproofing to be effective in reducing noise it is often a case of practical design. Some suggestions follow: Windows: Windows should be double-glazed to create separation between the surfaces. As a rule of thumb, two sheets of 6mm glass with an air gap of 100mm should be sufficient for a venue holding 120 people with general background music. It is a good idea to consult an acoustics engineer, as different types of glass and different types of entertainment will result in different requirements.

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In Australia’s hot climate, it is often refreshing to be able to open the windows, particularly if your venue trades during the day.

While not ideal from a purely noise management perspective!

So if you have opening windows in your premises, ensure the windows have seals so noise doesn’t escape through gaps when the windows are closed.

Drapes or curtains should be installed over windows as a sound dampener and to create separation. While a little more expensive, acoustic drapes can achieve even better results. Ensure there is sufficient material so that it overlaps in the centre and provides sufficient coverage to the sides so that noise doesn’t escape through the gaps. Drapes will add density to the environment and assist in reducing both reflected and transmitted sound so will not only assist in soundproofing, but also in improving sound quality.

Doors: All doors leading to the street should have an air lock and a large gap between the doors. This will prevent noise from escaping when a patron is leaving the venue. The doors should be sufficiently spaced so that the first door has time to close before the patron opens the second door.

Ceilings & Floors: Separation between the floor and ceiling of the room underneath can be achieved through insulation or creating space by raising the floor or lowering the ceiling.

Fibreglass ceiling insulation should be used in a cavity ceiling.

The more dense the insulation, the better the sound absorption qualities. Acoustic vinyl or underlay can also be applied to the ceiling or to the floor to prevent noise transfer.

Also, there are a number of acoustic ceiling panel products available for grid ceilings which prevent reflective sound although they are not as effective in stopping noise transmission.

Walls: Sound can travel through most wall fabrics. A doublebrick wall is the most effective ‘untreated’ wall for preventing noise transmission. Like the double-glazed windows and door air locks, the gap between the walls allow the sound waves to collapse and dissipate. If your venue does not have double-brick walls, consider installing an internal wall in front of, but separate from, a single skin wall. Better yet, invest in soundproofing vinyl to install on the second wall to give the wall some density.

Fibreglass insulation in the wall cavities will also reduce the noise transmission through walls.

Soundproofing is a real concern to inner-city venues and very often owners are surprised at the enormous expense and measures required to keep sound from leaking out and annoying the neighbours. Don’t be shocked or surprised, be prepared.

Steve Williams is a director of Project Management at Altus Page Kirkland, International Property & Construction Consultants.

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When David Hales peeked through the looking glass to see what was in store for The Observatory, he had no idea how much things would change. In the space of a couple of years [see Issue 22], his Hobart venue has gone from a mature-market waterfront cocktail bar to a bar that hosts sometimes between four and five hundred punters, with plenty of loud music and dancing. venue spoke with Peter Dawson from KWMC, the company that supplied and installed the audio, about how a system designed for background jazz handles thumping ‘four on the floor’.

SOUND SPECIAL

The Observatory Times Change, Quality Install Handles Pressure

“We liaised with Paul Kelly Design, and he specified fairly conservative Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) typical of a higher class cocktail venue. We applied a system that was going to fulfil that with 10 percent headroom to spare. It was a very plush cocktail bar aimed at the mature age market, but the goal posts have moved a fair whack, and I’m surprised that the system stands up to what it does.

Originally it was around 98dB, and now they’re up to about 110dB — the system is pushed to its absolute limit.

To keep the system going, we’ve replaced some of the amplifiers to give them more headroom. We’re constantly tweaking the system to get as much out of it. We always try to keep the signal as clean as possible, and use the BSS signal processor’s limiting and DSP tuning to make sure uncontrolled inputs like DJs and other sources like Nightlife systems are

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limited on their inputs. That way we don’t get into issues of incorrect signals going through the whole system. We’ve also got some air conditioning in the rack room, which helps the system perform a lot better.

And what I really can’t believe is that, touch wood, we haven’t ever popped a driver. All the original JBL Control speakers are still there.

We’ve had maybe one or two channels go on the Crown amplifiers in the two years, but realistically they’re handling it very well.

It’s pretty stable for something that’s being pushed to the limit.

If we’d known what the system was doing now, we would have installed something different.

But even before it opened, the owner couldn’t believe how many speakers were in there and how loud it was. It shows how things have changed, because within a few months he rang up asking if it could be louder. So I’m glad I had the headroom in the first place.”

Owner David Hales said, “We’ve got quite a lot of glass and hard surfaces in the building, as well as high ceilings and open areas. It’s good to have a system with high capabilities to make sure we have crisp sound, because we’ve got other venues that don’t have those capabilities and you notice it. And this system’s been punished harder than it should be.” » KWMC: (03) 6230 8938 or www.kwmc.com.au » J ands (JBL, Crown, BSS): (02) 9582 0909 or www.jands.com.au

SOUND SPECIAL

The Met Good Design Wins Out

The Met is a Fortitude Valley superclub that spans three floors and includes two dancefloors, five bars, a VIP lounge and private function rooms. DJs might rule supreme most nights, but The Met is also a credible live venue and its proven itself over the past few years to be a formidable-sounding joint. Which is amazing, given how brutal the place is acoustically — most of the rooms are rectangular concrete boxes.

Fortunately, The Met’s Managing Director, Chris Cole, understood one key point about achieving great sound — that it’s as much about the people designing the system as it is about the system itself: “At this end of the quality scale, I’m sure there are good equivalent [systems] out there. It’s like choosing between a BMW, a Mercedes and an Audi — at the end of the day, they’re all good — but what I need is the design team to make sure the ‘car’ is set up right to begin with and ensure it stays that way for years.”

Chris Cole picked a Martin Audio Wavefront 8-based system with TAG’s Technical Director Tony Russo ensuring the system was optimised for the tough conditions. It took considerable innovation to give the PA the impact it needed without sound just endlessly bouncing around or bass frequencies playing havoc.

For example, this from Tony Russo: “we individually housed the subs in double-wall, sand-filled concrete bunkers at the front of the stage and electronically ‘steered’ them [directing the low-end energy to where the people are, rather than spraying the sound all over the place]. The whole system is driven by 24,000W of QSC power amps.”

Michael Watt, Technical Manager at The Met, sums things up nicely: “A nightclub is an escape. You come in as a patron and you’re asking to be transported out of your nine-to-five life and taken somewhere more exotic. The sound plays a big part in swallowing you up, making time disappear and taking you into that alternate reality. Our system does that. Our sound system was very expertly designed by Tony Russo at TAG. He’s managed to focus lots of the energy on the dancefloor and keep most it off the untreated walls and ceiling.” » T he Met: 256 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley QLD (07) 3257 2557 or www.themet.com.au » TAG: (02) 9519 0900 or www.tag.com.au » T otal Concept Projects: (07) 3368 3660 or www.totalconceptprojects.com.au

SOUND SPECIAL

Spice Temple Primo Restaurant Gets Audiophile Sound

From the onset the Len Wallis Audio team knew this wasn’t going to be your average commercial audio install. Neil Perry and his business partner David Doyle wanted something special. They made it clear that traditional in-ceiling speakers and/or ‘sub + satellite’ setups weren’t an option. They wanted hi-fi stereo in every seat and they wanted a system that was as much a part of the decor as the furniture or carpet.

Many hours were spent with architects Bates Smart to carefully select a good-looking speaker box and position it correctly.

Low-level full-range sound was priority number one. Spice Temple is a restaurant not a nightclub so careful attention was put into designing a traditional stereo system to suit the multiple listening positions.

The Len Wallis Audio team, headed by Peter Greentree and Tony Breen, used 26 x Era Design 5 monitors in piano gloss black, mounted near the ceiling at strategic points around the dining area. Audiophile speaker leads were used throughout to maintain efficient, broad-range response. The sound of this array of speakers, powered by multi-channel Crestron power amplifiers (32 channels in all), is truly full-range too, even at restrained volume levels. Every speaker has a dedicated channel of amplification and there’s a total of eight zones. The manager on duty can very easily control every aspect of the system from the system via the in-wall Crestron touchscreen.

Zone selection, volume, track details, audio EQ and even control for the LCD screen in the front door are controlled here.

The interior design includes acoustic panels from Woven Image to assist in maintaining a natural sound with just the right balance of liveliness.

Even the toilets have Speakercraft dual-tweeter (erm, flushmount?) speakers in the ceiling. The reception area is served by two flat Jamo on-wall A-510 speakers.

The music (programmed by Anton Monsted) was put together with a view to creating an appropriately exotic aural environment, and the playlists are controlled via a Crestron Touch Screen (pictured) which also handles volume setting for the zones.

The screen in the front door (pictured) is a true 1080P 65-inch LCD panel specially made and imported from Germany for this project. It was installed in a custom made front door with an extra thick glass panel to protect it.

» Spice Temple: www.spicetemple.com » Len Wallis Audio: (02) 9427 6755 or www.lenwallisaudio.com.au » Crestron: (02) 9737 8203 or www.crestron.com.au

“Wh en Sou nd, Lightin g and Visual matters”

Port Office Hotel, Brisbane

PRO AUDIO / ARCHITECTURAL & STAGE LIGHTING / CONTROL & AUTOMATION / MATV,SECURITY,CCTV / PRO DJ EQUIPMENT /SALES-HIRE-DESIGN

JVG Sound Lighting & Visual is one of Australia’s fastest growing audio visual companies, exploding at the seams. Operating since 1997, JVG has made its presence felt in many cities and country towns throughout QLD, NSW, NT and VIC, using its design, Sales and Installation team to brighten up even the oldest estabishments.JVG Sound Lighting & Visual chooses to use products because of their quality and technology, safety and reliability.

JVG Sound Lighting & Visual has a state-of-the-art showroom displaying lighting, sound and visual equipment and is open to all architects, residential and commercial property developers, interior designers, electricians and consultants.

Recent projects: The Consortium / Coolangatta Hotel / Cocktails & Dreams / Platinum / The Sands Hotel / The Exchange / Billabong Stores / Gilligans / Gold Coast Convention Centre / Minus 5 bars

1300 JVG JVG

Cairns Office

www.jvgsound.com.au sales@jvgsound.com.au

Gold Coast Showroom

584 584

Suite 7-68 Abbott Street Cairns T 07 4041 3929 / F 07 4041 3929

2/38 Ourimbah Road, Tweed Heads T 07 5599 1222 / F 07 55992 643

SOUND SPECIAL

Bankstown Sports Club A Serious Rig for a Club that Takes Sound Seriously The Bankstown Sports Club recently completed Phase One of a renovation of its Grand Ballroom. Seating up to 620 people after the first phase, it’s a massive room with massive audio technology and acoustic requirements.

Haron Robson was called on to specify and install the system, which comprises a background system of Electrovoice ZX1 speakers networked on a system of motorised trusses and Electrovoice C8.2 ceiling speakers with Dynacord H2500 and H5000 amplifiers.

“We tried to solve the problem that every function room has, which is poor distribution of speech.” Explained Mal Barnes, Haron Robson’s Design Manager of Special Projects. “We’ve utilised the ZX1 speaker boxes in a downward firing manner distributed throughout the room for high quality background music while retaining good mid range for speech. It sounds exactly the same everywhere in the room with very high intelligibility, meaning there are no bad seats in the house.”

The second phase is set to increase the capacity to 1500 people, with the ability to divide the space into three smaller areas to cater for different functions at the one time. This was the reason for the motorised trusses, a bit of rigging is required to meet the requirements of different functions and the club wanted to be able to turn the space around in two hours. The only way to do that is be able to rig on the floor. The implementation of the second phase required some forward thinking from Barnes and Haron Robson. As it stands, the front of house system is an Electrovoice XLc line array of four boxes and a flown dual 15-inch sub a side, and two dual 18-inch X-subs on the ground. But the second

phase will see this doubled and able to be split across two function spaces. Barnes reckons the XLc’s FIR filters gives the EV line array an edge, with a smooth response that suits every application, not just acts that are hard and loud.

The audio fitout of the Grand Ballroom is part of a wider focus on sound at the Bankstown Sports Club.

Haron Robson has also made some changes to fix old problems from old systems. One of the problems Barnes examined were the wireless systems that were “dropping out due to inadequate system design. We went to the nth degree and actually designed and specified an EV Rev-D distributed antenna system so that we could be sure it would work.”

Opening night saw the systems hard at work, with the 35-piece Sydney Symphony Orchestra on hand to test the all-important acoustics. Throughout the night, the system was on show, with a variety of requirements, from spoken word to rock and musical performances from cast members of the Phantom of the Opera — and it stood the test. “We’re very happy with it.” Said Chris Passanah, Marketing Manager at the Bankstown.

“We’ve had lots of compliments that the sound and the acoustics of the room are good. Audio is obviously very important to our business because these days with most functions — even if it’s a charity night — entertainment is always a very important component. That’s why we invested heavily in technology to make sure everything was right. The speakers are the best technology has to offer and everything is custom-designed for the room.”

» Bankstown Sports Club: 8 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown, NSW (02) 9722 9888 or www.bankstownsports.com » Haron Robson: (02) 9819 6611 or www.haronrobson.net » Bosch (Electrovoice, Dynacord): (02) 9683 4752 or boschcomms@au.bosch.com » Paynter Dixon: (02) 9797 5555 or www.paynterdixon.com.au

www.magnasys.tv Distributed in Australia by: Magna Systems and Engineering, Unit 2, 28 Smith Street, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Australia Tel: (02) 9417 1111 Fax: (02) 9417 2394

SOUND SPECIAL

Tattersalls Hotel Rooftop Sound Ceiling a Big Hit

Recently the Tattersalls Hotel in Hobart completed work on the Rooftop beer garden, which opens out onto the rooftop through bi-fold doors from the second level. Owner John Marios wanted to change tack a little from the nightclub downstairs with some R&B upstairs. But thumping bass and bi-fold doors don’t usually go hand in hand, especially when you’re in the middle of the city. “The area opens out onto a courtyard, and we’re in the middle of the city, so the biggest problem for us was noise pollution,” said John.

It took a bit of convincing, but eventually John found the solution for his problem, a Jbn sound ceiling. The ceiling keeps all the low-end frequencies pointed straight at the people on the dancefloor, allowing John to keep those bi-fold doors open and have R&B playing inside at the same time.

“Initially I was very sceptical about spending so much money, especially when you’ve got so many options,” explained John. “It took them a few months to convince me. I travelled from Tassie to Melbourne to have a look at a few in person. I ended up going to a gig in Port Melbourne and I was just blown away. It’s been the best decision. I’ve had no problems with noise pollution, no problems with the police, and the young kids love the sound that comes out of it. If I had another three or four nightclubs, I wouldn’t think about another system. It’s easy, you don’t have to worry about speakers everywhere and it just goes.”

Jbn Sound ceilings are solving problems left, right and right above. PJ O’Brien’s in Cairns owner Jon Hasler wanted to get music pumping on the dance floor, and felt the 103dB level he was achieving wasn’t strong enough. His problem: there are apartments on the level right above the dance floor. Ross Palmer Acoustics suggested Jbn, who guaranteed an increase of at least 10dB or would take the system out again. Going against common logic by putting the source as close to the apartments as possible, the 51 directional ceiling tiles have allowed the system to achieve increases of up to 20dB in the low end without increasing the levels upstairs at all.

» Tattersalls Hotel: 11 Murray Street, Hobart, TAS (03) 6234 5112 or www.tattersallshoteltas.com.au » Jbn Sound ceiling: (03) 9379 0899 or www.jbn.com.au

SOUND SPECIAL

Port Office Hotel AV Unified & Controllable… Publican Happy

The Port Office Hotel in Brisbane had gone 11 years since its last renovation, and owner Paul Janssen was hearing a few problems in the original design.

The Port Office Hotel was a poster-child for venues that accumulate more problems the more gear they collect. “Because of the way the hotel’s set out, there are three fairly distinct areas,” explains Paul. “In the old system, each had its own separate sound system. Over the years we’ve tried many patchwork jobs to link them all together and be able to play anything you wanted throughout the venue. But it was all coming from different sources and over time you needed to be a sound engineer to learn how to operate it.” Rather than persist with this piecemeal operation, Paul got JVG to install a fresh new system that unified all the AV requirements throughout the hotel so that turning on background music was as simple as it should be. “What we tried to do was get an integrated system which controlled audio and lighting to try and make it a more user friendly system for managers that was as automated as possible,” said Paul. It now consists of JBL speakers powered

by Crown and Australian Monitor amplifiers with BSS Audio processors. It’s all linked with the lighting through Crestron control panels with four TPS-6L touchscreens and a Crestron CP2E processor.

“Sound is reasonably high on our agenda as we have a nightclub upstairs, which we run Friday and Saturday nights. The main bar downstairs has music playing constantly and it’s a fairly hard room to make sound good, due to wood floors, a marble bar and concrete walls. And we’ve always had noise issues in the restaurant, so with the renovation we did an extensive amount of work putting in soundproofing and diffusion. We’re really happy with how it’s all turned out,” said Paul.

» Port Office Hotel: Cnr Margaret & Edward Streets, Brisbane City QLD (07) 3221 0072 or www.portofficehotel.com.au » JVG: (07) 5599 1222 or www.jvgsound.com.au

Situated in Sydney’s Chinatown, the Haymarket Hotel is a refreshing and opulent venue crafted within a heritage-listed old bank building. The hotel features three very different areas for patrons to unwind in: a basement bar, the main bar and a mezzanine level.

Saltec was commissioned to design and install all audiovisual components. With a commercial hotel next door, Saltec had to ensure there was minimal audio leakage from the venue and that it was multifunctional. ”This space can be used for anything — loud music or even a piano — so we decided to install some powerful gear in the form of Turbosound TCS101C wallmount speakers and a Turbosound subwoofer,” explained Stephen Askins, Saltec’s Project Manager.

“At the same time we had to be very mindful of council noise regulations which are quite severe in this area. It’s a good quality sound throughout.”

More Turbosound TCS101C speakers and a Turbosound subwoofer are used upstairs in the main bar as well as four Electrovoice EVID 6.2 and two Electrovoice EVID 3.2 wallmount speakers. Seven TOA F2352SC and five Atlas FAP62T ceiling speakers are also used. Lab.gruppen amplifiers, which according to Stephen ‘never break down’, drive the speakers and processing is all Media Matrix.

One of the highlights of Saltec’s installation is the massive amount of LED lighting, including an amazing 520 x Pro Shop LED Strips! The LED strips are located within tracks inside the ornate cornices from where they very slowly scroll through eight selected colours. So slowly you can imagine having a few drinks and swearing you came into a green venue not a blue one! Only one colour is used at a time reflecting the classic ambience of the interiors.

Rather than clashing with the heritage building, the LED actually lighting brings out the character of the building in a successful case of new technology enhancing something old.

SOUND SPECIAL

“It’s really designed to create a mood not to be flashy,” said Stephen. “Show Technology worked very hard with us on this project and must have been on site at least 30 times during the design phase and installation.”

Haymarket Hotel

Loud & Flexible System that Won’t Annoy the Neighbours

Seven Pulsar ChromaLights are used to highlight beams across the ceiling as well as columns and are programmed to match the main LED colours. A Pulsar ChromaZone controls the ChromaLights while eight LED controllers/drivers with power supplies take care of the LED strips.

One of the wall panels within the Haymarket Hotel has been turned into moving art by the use of MoodTV projected by a Epson G5350 projector chosen because it can shoot off-centre.

The owner of the venue insisted on ease of control and so a touchscreen Crestron system was chosen.

“It makes operation nice and easy for the staff,” said Stephen. “The control system consists of a Crestron AV2 processor, a Creston expansion cage, two Crestron IR expansion cards, a Bluecog RS232 to DMX interface, two Martin four-channel DMX Opto Splitters and three Crestron TPS4L wallmount touchpanels.” » Saltec: (02) 9707 2070 or www.saltec.com.au » Audio Telex (Turbosound, Lab.gruppen): www.audiotelex.com.au » Show Technology (Pro Shop, Pulsar): www.showtech.com.au » Bosch (EV): boschcomms@au.bosch.com » TAG (Atlas): ar@tag.com.au » Audio Products Group (TOA): www.audioproducts.com.au » Epson: www.epson.com.au » Crestron: www.crestron.com.au » MoodTV: www.moodtv.tv

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posit «

Pier Bar Arcs Up

The Pier Bar & Grill is the perfect place to chill in Cairns, overlooking incoming yachts coming off the Coral Sea on the open deck with enough space for 350 very relaxed people. Owner John Hassler made a conscious decision to invest further in Anolis LED lighting to suit the ambient mood and save on power and maintenance costs. JVG supplied and installed Anolis Arcsource 6 RGB Warm White fixtures throughout the venue, with Anolis Arclink RGB fixtures in feature lamp shades and other areas requiring higher output. “The room looks over the inlet of Cairns and at night the lighting changes with the setting of the sun which truly sets the room off”, said Scott Miller of JVG. All the fixtures are powered by Anolis ArcPower 16x6 amd Arcpower 144 LED drivers, and controlled by an E:Cue Excite+. On the dance floor, Robe ColorSpot 170AT lights project bright colours and an array of visual effects.

Photo: 23 Frames

» ULA Group: 1300 852 476 or www.ulagroup.com » JVG: (07) 5599 1222 or www.jvgsound.com.au

Caesarstone Rates Well

Porter’s Paints Wood Wash

Caesarstone has recently updated its environmental and sustainability position to include Green Star compatibility information. Its environmental management policy includes the consideration of environmental factors in the selection of materials and suppliers, safety standards, and the impact of production processes on the environment. A range of Caesarstone products has achieved a Green Building Council of Australia green star rating with several credits for indoor environment quality and materials. Examples of the environmentally friendly range include the Moasici Marrone, made with 43 percent recycled material.

Fancy that holiday home in the Hamptons look without the wait or the social cost?

Porter’s Paints Wood Wash will turn that fresh laid timber floor into a limed, weathered beachside beauty before you can don a cardigan and a pair of plimsolls. It’s easy to apply with either a brush or lamb’s wool applicator and has low VOC qualities, leaving you with just the smell of a fresh sea breeze. » Porter’s Paints: 1800 656 664 or www.porterspaints.com.au

» Caesarstone: 1300 119 119 or www.caesarstone.com.au

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»

posit

Gasworks Gets The Works

A Plumb Collection

The Gasworks nightclub in Paramatta’s Albion Hotel has been steadily packing in punters, and the owners decided to revamp the venue’s lighting to suit its growing popularity. Rob Eastwick designed and Beyond AV supplied and installed the lighting, which includes five Flos Cocoon chandeliers above the long bar, which Con Andrews of Beyond AV installed eight Pro Shop 145mm LED PCD strips into each, taking the already attractive chandeliers to a new level of colour change lighting.

The recessed back bar has also been fitted out with four Pro Shop LED strips, and 17 LED PCB boards provide back lighting in an enclosed bar section. Studio Due LED lighting has been used on the stage and dance floors, with lightweight moving heads, and the previously installed Martin EFX600 lighting effects fixtures proved so popular, another four were installed as well as two EFX800 fixtures.

The Robert Plumb Artist Collection of products is fresh in time for Spring.

William Dangar has collaborated with ceramic artist Cameron Williams and contemporary sculptor Hopi Steiner to create a series of planters and bespoke lights. All the products are handmade, and if the designs tickle your fancy but can’t find anything your size, the Artist Collection is up for adjustment to fit that cosy nook or feature wall. » Robert Plumb: (02) 9316 9066 or www.robertplumb.com.au

» Show Technology: (02) 9748 1122 or www.showtech.com.au » Beyond AV: (02) 9554 6781 or www.beyondav.com.au

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it

Fare Mondi — Venice Biennale

H

ere’s a temporary café designed by Tobias Rehberger for the Venice Biennale. It’s called Fare Mondi (Making Worlds) and he won a Golden Lion gong for his troubles. The jury stated: “Tobias Rehberger is awarded the Golden Lion as best artist for taking us beyond the white cube, where past modes of exhibition are reinvented and the work of art turns into a cafeteria. In this shift social communication becomes aesthetic practice.”

Presumably the Fare Mondi coffee passed muster, taking us beyond the white cup, where past modes of slurping are reinvented and the work of hot drinks turns into a kick-ass ristretto.

If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about (and you’re fortunate enough to have never suffered any epilepsy) then head along — the café will remain open until late November. (Photos: Wolfgang Guenzel.)

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Don’t Cut Corners No audio corners were cut when Hugo’s Lounge in Kings Cross was refit with with EAW speakers ranging from DC5 & DC6 Avalon boxes for the dancefloor, through to JFX88 as room fill and CIS400 ceiling speakers for the balcony. Skyy bar has been fitted with speaker cabinets from the MK range and all processing & zoning was digitally performed with Symetrix Symnet.

“

DJ Warehouse has been instrumental in providing Hugo’s Lounge & Skyy Bar with a complete Audio & Lighting Solution.

They are an amazing outfit and remain our company of choice. We have also recently used them in our new venue Hugo’s Manly.

Dave Evans - MD Hugos Group

Hugos Lounge and Skyy Bar, Sydney, named 2007 ‘Nightclub Of The Year’.

System: EAW Avalon Series PA, Powersoft amplification, Symetrix Symnet processing.

Sound design & installation: DJW Projects.

Production Audio Services Pty Ltd P.(03) 9264 8000 info@productionaudio.com.au www.productionaudio.com.au

DJW Projects P. (02) 9114 9993 dave@djwprojects.com.au www.djwprojects.com.au

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