Audio on the menu

The new ‘Modern Chinese’ restaurant, based in Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace, matches impressive culinary offerings with a brand new A/V installation. The Hakkasan restaurants have made a formidable name for themselves in recent years as a haven for the rich and famous, and high quality audio has always been a key ingredient of its Michelin-star winning recipes. 

Currently based in London and Miami Beach, the Hakkasan philosophy blends superb Cantonese-style food with an interior style and atmosphere that would find itself perfectly at home in an exclusive nightclub. Moreover, just as the restaurant’s interior design is influenced by clubs, its sound system mimics their high SPL and zoned coverage, in potential at least.

With a reputation for both exclusivity and originality, it was perhaps only a matter of time before the Hakkasan brand came to the UAE. However, it was just two years ago when the company turned its sights towards the Emirates. The result is a perfect fit between concept and location, with the opulence of the Emirates Palace providing an indulgent home to its latest addition.

Nor has the winning formula from London and Miami simply been copied for the UAE capital. In fact, Hakkasan Abu Dhabi has been years in the making, with the team behind its design meticulously researching local cultural and culinary trends. To wit, while the restaurants signature dishes are still to be found on the menu, Chef Lee Kok Hua – a five year veteran of Hakkasan London – has developed dishes with a more local flavour using ingredients such as hammour and blue shell crab.

With so much effort having gone into fine-tuning every element of the new restaurant, naturally the audio installation was always going to be scrutinised with an eye towards perfection. It is therefore quite a compliment to the systems integrator who won the project – AVI-SPL’s Dubai office – that the system has drawn only praise from the owners and diners alike.

Walking into Hakkasan Abu Dhabi is quite an experience, with each portion of the venue taking on its own distinct yet related atmosphere. The whole interior was conceived by Parisian designer Gilles & Boissier, and is influenced in part by the London original. The restaurant encompasses 165 covers across a multi-zoned lower floor plus four private dining areas, two of which are located on a second floor.

Just strolling between the zones gives a strong impression of what diners should expect, and why the audio system is such a crucial component of the overall design. Visitors are likely to be struck by the more laid-back dining ambience in the main restaurant area. In here, background music is the priority – never eclipsing conversation but nonetheless present enough that diners feel they are enjoying the true Hakkasan experience.

This is contrasted sharply by the seemingly runway-length cocktail bar. This area is served by higher SPLs than elsewhere, again promoting the nightclub ideal, upon which the restaurant has built its fame. Sat alongside the bar meanwhile is the lounge – all dimmed lighting and brooding cool, with a restrained yet powerful audio performance to match.

The company that took on the various challenges of the restaurant’s audio installation is fast becoming famous within the regional industry for its meticulous approach to projects. AVI-SPL is still a relative newcomer to the UAE A/V integration sector, but in the time that the company has been operating from its Dubai office, headed by Phil Marlowe, it has established a reputation for painstaking attention to detail. The proof is easiest to see in the racks that the integrator builds for each of its projects, assembling them in its office prior to going on site. Each rack is built using specifications imported from the US that are so exacting the company believes a novice could disassemble the entire rack then put it back together again, simply by following the labels that are attached to each cable.

Certainly, opening the door to the rack room at Hakkasan and seeing AVI-SPL’s work first-hand is impressive. No detail has been passed over, to the point that the AMX control screen even boasts the Hakkasan logo of two ‘K’ letters placed back to back, which then slide apart to reveal the control options once the correct code is entered. It may only be a small, cosmetic touch, but it creates an impression of customisation and exclusivity that perfectly matches the project into which it has been installed.

Perhaps it’s no surprise therefore, that Hakkasan got exactly what it wanted – AVI-SPL’s installation within the restaurant is virtually undetectable unless specifically looked for. Moreover, the combination of Tannoy loudspeakers weighs in with enough power to deliver nightclub-level SPL when required, and a more restrained performance when appropriate.

Strategically placed within the main dining area are models from Tannoy’s Designer Install surface mount range, with full-range Di 6DCt and Di 8DC loudspeakers equipped with the manufacturer’s Dual Concentric drivers providing a BGM performance. Adding more meat to the bone as required meanwhile are 15-inch VS15 band pass subs.

AVI-SPL has removed the badge from each loudspeaker prior to installation above a ceiling grate that runs the length of the restaurant, meaning that the enclosures are so well disguised that even visiting professionals struggle to pinpoint each cabinet’s exact location. Within the four private dining areas meanwhile are CVS 6 in-ceiling speakers providing distributed sound, all of which have been carefully painted to render them just as well hidden.

In the bar and lounge area Tannoy’s V-Series has been employed, with six V 12HP full range enclosures firing into the lounge area, plus two more focusing on the long bar, all coupled with eight VS 15BP band-pass subs to provide low-end thump. Again, all of the loudspeakers have been de-badged and are flown discretely within ceiling spaces, masked behind the black steel ceiling grille where possible.

Powering the entire system meanwhile are Lab.gruppen’s C Series amplifiers that have been coupled with the NLB 60E NomadLink bridge and network controller. Sitting alongside them in the rack is Biamp AudiaFlex DSP, while AVI-SPL has implemented third party reporting to allow staff to control the system via AMX panels.

The result is a simple to operate system that can become as gentle or as powerful as the operator requires, and that’s so well hidden as to never interfere with the restaurant’s unique appeal.

The notion of making an audio installation not the last thought within an installation but in fact one of the cornerstones of a venue’s appeal may seem common sense to those who work in the A/V industry, but it is still enough of a novelty to make the sound within Hakkasan Abu Dhabi a very pleasant surprise.

www.avispl.com

www.hakkasan.com