AV Case Study: Mecca Flagship Store
Amped Digital digs deep into its bag to deliver a stunning result for its mega makeup client.
24 August 2026
Text:/ Christopher Holder
The new Mecca flagship store in Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall is quite the sensation. In a retail world where the internet reigns supreme, it’s a bold statement. With founder and CEO Jo Horgan at the helm, Mecca is betting big on bricks-and-mortar retail. Mecca is an Australian success story that believes face-to-face interactions are good for consumers and good for business. That said, Mecca could just as easily have leased a big space in a Westfield and made its life a whole lot easier. Instead, the 299 Bourke Street flagship store resides in a landmark 150-year-old building straining under every heritage overlay you can imagine.
From an AV perspective, the task was formidable. Amped Digital has been working with Mecca for years, but no one is pretending this was just another job.
“It was two years in the planning,” explains Darren Farrell. “Although we’re a ‘finishing trade’, Amped Digital was involved in those early meetings with electrical to ensure our cabling requirements were met.”
Part of the issue was the sheer scale of the building. The building spans 4000sqm of retail space across three levels, demanding marathon cable runs.
“Cat5 starts to max out at around 90metres,” explains Darren. “So we had to plan carefully. Upgrading to fibre wasn’t in the budget.”
AUDIO: MAKEUP GAIN
The two main pieces of the AV design were audio and digital signage. From an audio perspective, the challenges were around keeping the loudspeakers discreet but capable enough to handle the 7.5m-high ceilings on the ground floor. What’s more, there are 16 zones, each fed by its own music source – a carefully curated playlist sitting on a QSIC media player.
Amped Digital chose a Bose Professional audio solution, supplied by Wesco Anixter. Bose Professional’s DesignMax DM3 loudspeakers are the mainstays of the install, either surface-mounted or in-ceiling.
“There’s plenty of original plasterwork, which we couldn’t touch,” explains Darren. “So we needed a loudspeaker that would perform well and look good on a lighting track.” Where we could, we installed the Bose Professional in-ceiling model, such as in the treatment rooms (with its eight spaces, each with its own source/zone), the café, hairdresser, and under bulkhead locations.
The cavernous ground floor truly shines with four Bose Professional DM10-S subs – these aren’t small enclosures, but their white finish makes them nearly invisible.
POWER MOVE
Bose Professional PowerShare amplifiers power the entire 100V line audio system. The amps don’t reside in the downstairs rack room but in a more central location to optimise the cable runs. Instead, the QSIC players in the rack room feed a Bose Professional ControlSpace EX-8ML, which acts as a hub to send eight channels each of Dante to the amps upstairs. The amplifier complement primarily relies on 7 x PowerShare PS604D, with a PowerShareX PSX1204 and a beefier PSX2408 feeding the four DM10-S subs.
Control comes via Bose Professional ControlSpace Remote software hosted on a tablet in the managers’ office. The music is a vital part of the Mecca offering, as is the fine-tuned SPL, so you won’t find volume knob wallplates strategically dotted about – it’s largely locked down and removed from prying fingers.
The exceptions are in the beauty treatment rooms, which all get a Bose Professional CC-1 wall controller that talks to the ControlSpace EX-1280 processor. Similarly, on the ground floor, a demonstration space gets a Bose Professional CC-3D source/level wall controller to switch between a MiPro handheld/headset and the music programme.
Bose Professional’s technical team in Australia assisted with the design and modelling of the space. “It’s a large, cavernous space, but the Bose Professional solution performs well. During opening hours, it’s busy and the space has lots of stock, so we’re not getting weird nodes and build-ups of energy. The transitions between zones are remarkably seamless. We suspected we’d need to tap the loudspeakers in the transition zones, but there was no need – it sounds good.”
The audio solution is primarily for BGM but can kick into another gear if needs be. There are BluStream XLR-to-Dante wallplates that accommodate DJs for events and lockouts.
“We attended a supplier event on-site just prior to the launch,” recalls Darren. “The place was heaving, a DJ was providing the entertainment, and the Bose Professional system rocked. We could hardly believe it, to be honest – it sounded that good. The energy in the room was amazing. A ‘proud dad’ moment, you might say.”
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The hero feature is the ‘Newsroom’ display. Around 5m high and 4m wide in three sections, it showcases the latest developments in the world of beauty, and inspiration for shoppers to come into the store and explore
Octagonal Ticker (Newsroom): The main entrance features a fully clad mirrored column that incorporates a 250mm-high octagonal LED ticker screen.
Hanging/Suspended Hexagon LED (Newsroom): A six-sided suspended LED structure (2880 x 1620mm Absen NX LED) creates a digital focal point at the store’s entrance. The display is synchronised with the Newsroom LED Wall, amplifying its impact.
LASHINGS OF DIGITAL
If the audio solution’s remit was to be ‘heard but not seen’, then the digital signage solution’s mission was quite the opposite – conspicuously leading the way at the front of the store.
The hero feature is the ‘Newsroom’ display – an eye-catching cluster of LED in various formats. The largest element is around 5m high and 4m wide in three sections; it showcases the latest developments in the world of beauty, and inspiration for shoppers to come into the store and explore. The LED is an Absen product from the NX Series.
More Absen NX Series is used for a six-sided suspended LED structure (2880 x 1620mm) that mirrors the Newsroom content.
Wrapped around a pillar by the front doors – and rounding out the Newsroom – is a six-faceted LED ticker, displaying branding (again, more Absen NX).
Wayfinding LED screen: The store entrance features a 750mm x 2000mm P3.9 Absen LED screen housed in a clear polycarbonate enclosure, delivering the sleek, ‘Tech’ aesthetic the brand envisioned.
Decidedly lower-tech is the mirror fabric above the entryway, which does an effective job at maximising the impact of the digital content.
“We selected the Absen NX Series with 1.8mm pixel pitch for every front-of-store display to maintain consistent colour and visual harmony. All except a wayfinding display where the client requested something that would offer a chunkier text aesthetic. So that’s an Absen 3.9mm pixel pitch product.”
Mecca News Room LED Wall: A towering 1920mm x 4850mm Absen NX LED screen, with 2x adjacent LED digital signage strips (960 x 4850mm) at the store’s entrance, acts as the brand’s live ‘front page’, showcasing upcoming trends and campaign storytelling.
Muxwave Transparent Metal Mesh LED: Measuring 4500mm x 3000mm, this was the first installation of its kind in Australia. Its transparent design delivers striking digital visuals without obscuring the store’s architectural character.
DIGITAL TRENDS
Included in that complement of 1.8mm pp product are the 750 x 750mm Trend Screens (Absen K Series) and the ticker display over the cashier desk. It’s comprised of a 5m strip and a 3m-long strip, intentionally offset and providing additional brand emphasis. A brand-specific (Nars) screen rounds out the complement of LED on the main floor. It’s a 2 x 2m display (Absen NX Series 1.8mm pp).
All content is synchronised via SignageLive CMS on BrightSign players. A Novastar H9 processor does the heavy lifting.
Heading upstairs, Amped Digital worked with Mecca on a translucent LED feature in front of the Meccaversity conference space.
“It’s a MUXWave metal mesh product, the first to be installed in Australia. It’s 4.5m by 3m and 3.9mm pixel pitch. The electronics are all concealed in the power rails, keeping the display itself – with the LED diodes embedded in the metal – really clean and well resolved. It’s a primo product and looks amazing.”
THE MECCA OF MECCA
The audiovisual elements of the Mecca Flagship store are integrated to perfection. Interior designer Studio McQualter deserves props for imbuing the enormous space with intimacy and character, incorporating digital elements in a classy manner. Meanwhile, the Bose Professional audio installation is all-but invisible, offering top-quality music reproduction at levels that complete a carefully curated ambience. It’s safe to say Amped Digital has secured a client for life with this standout project. If Jo Horgan’s ambition is to reactivate the centre of Melbourne and provide a pilgrimage destination for lovers of beauty products, then it’s hard to see any stones left unturned. It’s a masterpiece.
Amped Digital: ampeddigital.com.au
Wesco Anixter (Bose Professional): wesco.com/proav-apac
Absen: absen.com
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