Salty’s Diner

COMPANY: Bluesound Professional LOCATION: Kapiti, New Zealand www.bluesoundprofessional.com

Salty’s Diner is the latest addition to a popular group of restaurants (not to be confused with a restaurant chain) feeding the coastal community of Kapiti, situated around an hour north of New Zealand’s capital.

Each of their restaurants has specialist theme, but all are keenly focused on high quality food and beverage service, along with a relaxing ‘chill out’ environment. The music soundscape is a careful consideration for each location and live shows happen regularly. Their latest restaurant however had more than a few challenges. It was to be a specialist BBQ restaurant and as part of the theme, they wanted service and simple audio control from within a restored Airstream caravan. Additional to this, in their new location, a reinforced concrete-block ex-factory, they had long distances to work with between the services area and speaker locations. Other considerations were the ability for some speakers to be mounted outside where they would be exposed to the salt air in this coastal location. What was most important to the client was a desire for higher quality sound than traditional 70/100v systems. Bluesound and its BSP500/1000 weather-proof speaker range along with simple control, thanks to the CP100 was up for the challenge. The main services area where a traditional amplifier would be located was some distance away from the restaurant floor and the caravan, so Bluesound Professional’s PoE++ speakers had an advantage with the length of cable required to each speaker. Additional to this, some of the interior speakers are exposed to the sun and an internal garden watering system along with an externally mounted speakers being exposed to the coastal salt air and occasional storm. These issues weren’t a concern for the BSP500 and BSP1000, which were configured for each location and fully sealed from the potentially damaging elements.

Salty’s Diner worked with A/V designers to ensure that speakers were positioned to cover the restaurant floor, including the main dining area, preparation kitchen and an exposed outdoor area. The layout considerations included areas that were designated for pinball machines, pool tables and quieter booths for conversation. A combination of BSP500 and BSP1000 powered speakers were installed and each area calibrated for the desired coverage and level. The all-important simple control is mainly through the Airstream mounted CP100 and the day starts and ends with the push of a button. Secondary control is from a remote office location where the network and security equipment is based. This is done thanks to a PC running Bluesound Professional’s Desktop app.

General Bourke

COMPANY: Bose Professional LOCATION: Sydney, Australia

General Bourke is a pub in Sydney’s western suburb of Parramatta. The pub’s story traces back to the early 1900s with much of its charm and architectural features still beautifully preserved. While the venue has changed ownership over the years, it is currently owned by Iris Hotel Group. With a view to modernize the venue while staying true to its significant status in the Parramatta area, Iris Hotel Group put General Bourke through a thorough refurbishment to make it a true destination venue with something for everyone. Within the building you’ll find a plush gaming room with Asian-inspired décor, a sports bar, VIP lounge, modern bistro with outdoor dining, and a larger main bar perfect for afternoon drinks and conversation.

Paul Devine, COO at Iris Hotel Group, explained the company’s vision, “General Bourke is on the edge of the commercial area in Parramatta, so we wanted to cater to the corporate market in the area, while preserving its reputation as a go-to entertainment and pub destination, which it has been since the early 1900s. We wanted to continue that tradition but allow ourselves the freedom to cater to everyone.”

Each of the areas within General Bourke has its own feel and ambience. With such diverse spaces, it was critical the audio solution flowed throughout the venue. “We wanted to ensure each area could be pristine in its offering and deliver the exact sound quality required for that individual space, without bleeding into another area, resulting in a lack of clarity and noise,” shared Devine.

It was also important that both the background and foreground music system could create the lively atmosphere of a traditional pub without overpowering the interactions between staff and customers. The team at Total Concept Projects (TCP) enabled this vision for each of the areas within General Bourke.

TCP Director, Tony Musico, designed an audio system for General Bourke that utilized loudspeakers from the Bose Professional FreeSpace and EdgeMax product families. Most of the audio throughout the dining areas is reinforced with Bose FreeSpace 3 in-ceiling loudspeakers. The low ceilings in the main bar meant the wide dispersion characteristics of FreeSpace loudspeakers were a perfect fit and ensured even coverage. In the sports TV viewing areas that require a higher SPL or more directional coverage, TCP deployed Bose EdgeMax EM90 and EM180. EdgeMax’s precise directionality ensured those who wanted to stand and watch a game or race could enjoy high-quality audio without excess noise bleeding throughout the room. EdgeMax loudspeakers were also installed over the bars, aiming audio away from where customers place orders, making normal conversations with staff members possible. “We needed to create a scenario whereby noise wasn’t bleeding through and interrupting the service exchange between the patron and our staff,” said Devine. “Bose EdgeMax has ensured that, at a normal conversational level, we now have hospitality staff re-engaging with patrons at the bar and talking in a normal voice without yelling or trying to be heard over music. It’s all about interaction with the customer.” The upstairs dance floor area, which turns into a nightclub after hours, was fitted with EdgeMax ceiling loudspeakers coupled with F1 subwoofers. Musico, delighted with the pairing, added, “This combination is unique as a foreground nightclub system, but its use was extremely successful.” Additional FreeSpace 3 loudspeakers cover the upstairs event and seating area where a PowerMatch PM8500N power amplifier is used for powering and processing all the loudspeakers. “Even though the loudspeakers create the ideal, integrated background music system, it’s the Bose range and type of products that really impressed me,” added Musico. Pubs can be noisy and sometimes unpleasantly so. A sure way of spoiling a customer’s experience is to push loud music into the places they’re trying to have conversations. Devine said, “This new Bose system has eradicated that issue. Because of the directional sound, it allows, in a normal conversational voice, patrons and staff to engage with each other.” https://pro.bose.com

Zioux

COMPANY: Robe

LOCATION: Johannesburg, South Africa

Situated in the heart of Sandton, Johannesburg, Zioux is a fusion of cool, classic, and contemporary, a carefully curated cocktail of food, drinks and music with a funky lounge vibe inspired by some of the magnificent animals, attributes and energy that define Africa.

Zioux manager Dino Constantinou knew lighting would be integral to creating the right ambience in the restaurant, and he was delighted when lighting distributors DWR specified 18 Robe moving lights – 12 LEDBeam 150s and six SPOTEs fitted with wide angle lenses – to help make the atmosphere extra special.

Constantinou wanted to create subtle effects and texturing around the room for general dining, which could be ramped up to generate excitement and hustle for the later evenings and live DJ sets at the weekends. The venue is also used for events which would require additional lighting requirements.

Zioux’s management team also operates Saints, another successful Sandon nightspot, for which DWR completed a small lighting installation comprising one Robe LEDBeam 150 for the DJ with a couple of colour changing up-lighters for the garden. However, this well-placed illumination made a huge difference, so Constantinou had no hesitation in consulting Johnny Scholtz of DWR once again. “Lighting in Zioux had to be elegant and appropriate to the space,” explained Scholtz, who suggested fixtures with multiple features that would segue with the interior visuals and environmental lighting.

Robe launched the SPOTE in 2021, and Scholtz saw a perfect opportunity for this new small moving light, thinking it would be great coupled with the established LEDBeam 150 for effects, offering a highly flexible all-LED solution. This project marks the first installation of the SPOTE fixtures in Africa.

The punchy 3,400-lumen output fixture was picked for its compact size, and it has plenty of interesting effects, including beam-work, utilising Robe’s TE 70W White LED engine from their TRANSFERABLE ENGINE technology. The wider beam angle was selected to add a bit more texture to the light output.

Scholtz knew that the LEDBeam 150s would be ideal for all events, and day-to-day operation. “They are small and versatile and great for producing fabulous washes and great colour with good soft edges for the wider angles which is often tricky in a busy space,” he said.

Once the Zioux order was given the go-ahead, DWR had to work quickly to get the kit supplied, installed, and commissioned in time for the opening. The main challenges on site were making everything slick and neat, and accessing the roof as most of the fixtures are in the highest part of the ceiling.

As they needed to be solidly rigged, thick threaded metal rods were chemically fixed into the structural roof concrete for attaching the lighting brackets, and the false ceiling was added around the lights. The LEDBeams and SPOTES are positioned to light the main seating and mingling areas, the DJ booth and to catch the bar and the large chandelier shades above it, adding colour and texturing.

Constantinou wanted full control of the lighting from his cell phone, so Johnny spec’d a lightShark web-based app-controlled interface which runs with an LS-core box that accommodates two DMX universes. Before that, the lighting was programmed into sequences and looks using a console which were uploaded to the box and can be accessed via the app. “It was fantastic to be part of this flagship restaurant,” concluded Scholtz. www.robe.cz

El Pollo Loco

COMPANY: Navori Labs

LOCATION: Nationwide, USA

Fire-grilled chicken restaurant chain El Pollo Loco has deployed Navori QL digital signage software to power digital menu board content inside 150 locations to date.

The primarily southwestern US chain was seeking a more reliable solution for dynamic content updating and visual display, and after mixed results with a homegrown infrastructure, the company turned to Navori. “Navori addressed all these challenges while also understanding our business model,” said Clark Matthews, VP Information Technology, El Pollo Loco. Matthews found Navori’s QL Content Manager to be particularly useful. “With QL, we just add the menu item number for the locations that we want the new price population to occur,” he reported. “We don’t need to touch anything inside the store environment.”

QL software powers the content on three landscape displays inside each restaurant; 100 of these locations have an additional portrait preview board that runs in-store promotions and ads. These boards show a mix of dynamic HTML5 content, static images, and what Matthews explains as partial static images with videos inside the content. Matthews went with Navori QL StiX media player dongles for content playout. “We simply attach the dongles to the appropriate display input, and can remotely update content as needed,” he explained. “We don’t need to replace sticks or manage anything at the store, and should we