Sound Division provide upscale Carbon footprint
One of London's most authentically-designed bars has opened in the east wing of The Cumberland Hotel at London's Marble Arch.
The industrially-themed Carbon has been developed at a cost of £2.5m on the site of the Cumberland's former Callaghan's Irish Bar (which was closed three years ago).
Interior designer Mark Bithrey of B3 Designers has immersed the 450-capacity venue in a world of concrete, brick, steel, mesh and leather (peppered with industrial artifacts and extremely rare champagnes) to achieve a low-key, sultry Shoreditch style vibe.
Having worked with the Sound Division Group on a previous bar project he again tasked the A/V specialists with creating the aural ambience in the four-zoned venue. This is divided between the main ground floor bar, lounge, the separate bookable 'Chain Room' and the suspended Mezzanine Bar upstairs.
Under the project management of Jon Carey, Sound Division worked quickly and diligently on site, according to general manager Eliza Sloane. "I was fortunate to have arrived here back back in January and the first thing we did was consult the DJs to find out their ideal system," she said.
Sound Division Group then took over, and Eliza emphasises how impressed she was with the speed and efficiency with which they operated. "Because the spec changed at the last minute a lot of pressure was put on them to deliver but all the equipment was installed on time, and fully tested."
Up in the booth, sound control is from a pair of Technics SL-1210's, Pioneer CDJ-800's and Allen & Heath XONE:62 mixer — stationed in a flying DJ box over the bar — with the signals fed to Martin Audio's AQ series architectural loudspeakers. A further Martin AQ8 is also provided as the DJ reference monitor.
During the early evening (from 4pm when the bar opens) the venue's Sebastien Albert serves up original cocktails against a backdrop of lounge music generated from an iPod. The programme then goes through a cycle of bar grooves, soulful lounge music and funky house until 1am.
Servicing the main bar are six Martin Audio AQ8 loudspeakers and a pair of AQ212 (2 x 12) subs, which are also flown equidistant, one at each end of the bar.
Four further AQ8's are evenly distributed across the Chain Lounge area, while upstairs, three Martin Audio AQ6's operate on a separate zone, among the vintage bottles of champagne (with a further three AQ6's covering the under-balcony) again as a seperate zone.
Eliza Sloane is delighted with the performance of the Martin Audio speakers. "They sound fantastic, so much so that we have increased the sound reinforcement under the mezzanine."
All power in the venue is provided by Crown Xti 1000 and 2000 and XLS800 power amplifiers.
System processing takes place in a BSS Soundweb Lite SW3088 DSP, with five SW9012 remote volume and source select panels fixed behind the bar wall adjacent to the door.
An overhead Sanyo PLCXU87 4000 ANSI lumen projector is provided but rather than fire onto the drop down electric screen provided, Eliza prefers to use the giant 14-metre bar back wall as a backdrop for movies, among the graffiti.
The audio visual installation comfortably achieves its brief, according to Mark Bithrey. "There are enough speakers around the space to keep the music levels relatively low, and since the venue was acoustically sensitive, Sound Division also needed to deal with the issues of containment."
The company can always be relied on to deliver a quality product, he says. "On site they had a professional, flexible team and I know they are very responsive when it comes to back-up service."
The Sound Division Group MD, David Graham, responded, "We are aware that the Cumberland is Guoman's flagship hotel and we are delighted they have given such high priority to the DJs and music quality. The loudspeaker design and signal processing reflect a carefully-evolved solution, in a difficult venue, where the prevention of sound leakage was a major issue. Careful placement of the enclosures means that we are now able to underrun the system to provide a smooth, even coverage."
As for Mark Bithrey, he has excelled in creating a giant theatre concealed behind the venue's huge metal door — from the spray-painted graffiti of the back bar to the fixed floor-to-ceiling steel chains which magnificently circumscribe the Chain Room.
May 2007