The creme-de-la-creme

Invisible audio is a modern-day expectation, and invisible audio is even more so.

Soho House is exclusive, but more than that, it is chic. Chic-ness may be all many people know about Soho House, and it’s almost certainly what the members club wants you to know.

Taking the hospitality business seriously

Through its lounge spaces, spas, pools, screening rooms, hotels, and restaurants, Soho House caters to the young, city-dwelling creative class, providing them with beautiful spaces to be young and innovative together. However, the brand comprises more than its famous members-only clubs. They own restaurants worldwide, has a burgeoning e-commerce operation, and, over the past 20-plus years, has established its presence as a global hospitality brand.

We have been a preferred supplier to Soho House for the last five years, having worked on the brand’s UK and international projects. Most recently, we completed the installation of discreet K-array speaker systems at their Stockholm site, the latest in the ever-growing portfolio of ultra-cool worldwide locations.

“K-array is a speaker brand that fits well with Soho House,” said Tateside’s technical director Jack Cornish. It’s renowned for being style-led and very discreet, which the architects who design these hospitality venues appreciate and typically strive for an uncluttered space. We’ve supplied a lot of high-end products for them. But when we need to come up with something extraordinary, when we’ve got to be conscious of the design aesthetics of a building, we tend to look to K-array.”

A multipurpose space with a modern yet traditional twist!

Soho House Stockholm is an example of traditional and modern design that requires a sympathetic touch— a converted Methodist church in Sweden’s capital city. The House consists of several spaces. Club Cecconi’s is adjacent to the main club space, which serves North Italian-inspired dishes with a Scandinavian twist and leads out to a private courtyard for outdoor dining. A typical Swedish drawing room inspires an intimate wood-panelled library. A bar notable for its long brass counter, while the first-floor mezzanine is the designated member’s area dominated by a vaulted ceiling and stunning original stained glass windows.

The main entrance gives guests a welcome introduction with point source speakers from the Domino range, leading into Cecconi’s restaurant, complemented by more Domino-KF26s and Rumble-KU210 subwoofers providing low-frequency support, and through to the library bar, which features very discreet Tornado-KT2 point source speakers supported by a pair of Rumble-KU26 subwoofers.

Different form factors meet consistent sound quality

“For the church’s huge volume, high ceiling and reflective surfaces. We knew we needed a line array concept to work with the high RT60s we’re dealing with here and to get some pattern control – so that’s how we got to the choice of K-array on this project,” explained Cornish. “And as there are many different spaces within the club, each has varying requirements. The K-array brand offers us all the different form factors to address those spaces with an acceptable aesthetic and a consistent sound character.”

“In the church, which is more of an event space. We were able to use the full-range Kayman-KY102 100-cm long line arrays. Six of those, with four Thunder-KS2P 18” subs on the bottom end,” commented Cornish.

“As you go through the hotel, it’s easy to see how the K-array brand can tackle all of our requirements, from subtle to full-on. And in terms of SPL, the sound level goes big! The only problem we had was that there was too much of it! Unfortunately, we’re actually running the system fairly well limited to keep the lid on and can’t run it at full tilt.

You have to remember this is a single-glazed church. Although the walls are over a metre thick, we had some areas of leakage through the windows, which we’ve solved with some tight notches in the DSP.”

The invisible audio magic

The equipment rack holds KA18, KA68, and KA208 Dante-equipped DSP amplifiers from the Kommander range, which power the various speaker systems, the QSC processing, and the Blustream I/O matrix.

The installation process went smoothly. We paid great attention to acoustic modelling and planning in advance. Detailed engineering drawings were prepared to ensure the first site visits went smoothly. Dave Wooster from K-array’s UK distributor, 2B Heard, provided the initial acoustic simulations in K-Framework. This helped identify the suitable models and quantities for each space and ensured everyone was happy with the design.

“The handholding that 2B Heard gave us throughout the design process was the biggest value-added for us.” “The client was also keen to use K-array following a recent project we’d done for them at Soho House Rome. So, there’s a sense of growing confidence in the brand. We knew from the outset that architecturally and acoustically, we could hit the brief. As a result, the client is thrilled.”—Jack Cornish, Tateside Technical Director.

K-array equipment list:

The Kit List

CECCONI’S RESTAURANT

• 9 x Domino-KF26 full range speaker, white
• 9 x Domino-KF26 full range speaker, stainless steel
• 4 x Rumble-KU210 subwoofer

LIBRARY BAR

• 4 x Tornado-KT2 point source speaker
• 2 x Rumble-KU26 subwoofer

CHURCH

• 6 x Kayman-KY102 100-cm line array
• 4 x Thunder-KS2 subwoofer
• 2 x Domino-KF26 full-range speaker

ENTRANCE & STAIRS

• 8 x Domino-KF26 full-range speaker

EQUIPMENT RACK

• 2 x Kommander-KA18 DSP amplifier
• 2 x Kommander-KA68 DSP amplifier
• 1 x Kommander-KA208 DSP amplifier

Credit: Thanks to 2B Heard for this great article!

About 2B Heard

2B Heard is a leading UK-based distributor of premium audio brands. We are the sole authorised representative of K-array in the UK and Ireland. Led by respected industry figures Dave Wooster and Sam Nankivell, the company delivers exceptional service and support based on real-world experience within the UK’s entertainment technology, professional AV and home audio markets. For more information, please visit www.2b-heard.com

Invisible audio that clients and architects love should be the norm; big, black, ugly boxes should not. If you want your venue to stand out from the crowd, get in touch!