Text:/ Christopher Holder
All Hands Brewing House is all about the beer.
The redesign of the King Street Wharf venue was two years in the planning and took seven months to build. The venue features extensive indoor and outdoor eating and drinking along with dedicated function space. The Maddison Architect-designed interiors are exposed and raw: timber, Cyclone fencing, Edison globes, tessellated brickwork and copper… so much copper.
In fact, metal conduit is so dominant that the AV contractor remarked they couldn’t even run speaker cable a few inches without copper or galvanised pipe making an appearance to conceal it.
ANY SOURCE ANY WHERE
The audiovisual aspects of the venue have also been well considered thanks to a design and install by Showtime.
There are 11 fixed point TVs and a large 160-inch projection screen (using a Hitachi CPHD9321 8200-lumen installation projector) in the function space, all fed a choice of three Fox or three free-to-air sources.
A Wyrestorm NetworkHD video-over-IP system allows any source to be routed to any destination via a standard ethernet network and PakEdge network switches (“I prefer Pakedge as the ports are on the back. Keeps things neater.”). The system takes the place of a old-school MATV or RF modulated ‘pub TV’ system and is full HD. The Wyrestorm JPEG2000 video over IP alternative means the TVs could easily fall under the control of the Q-SYS control system rather than requiring a bunch of remote controls.
Showtime: (02) 9824 1004 or www.show-pro.com.au
Technical Audio Group (QSC): (02) 9519 0900 or www.tag.com.au
Hills (Wyrestorm): 1300 445571 or www.hills.com.au
Hitachi (Maxell Projectors): (02) 9888 4100 or dps@hitachi.com.au
PEFECT LEVELS
The audio is all QSC. A large number of surfacemount AD series loudspeakers and 12-inch subwoofers ensure even coverage while not overly exciting the room with all its industrial-chic hard surfaces.
QSC CXD network amps provide the power.
Showtime designed a simple iOS user interface for All Hands Brewing House managers to take control of the AV. To make matters easier, Showtime wrote a little script for the Q-SYS control system such that the background music level would automatically raise and attenuate in sympathy with the ambient noise level. When the joint is jumping, the music remains an element. When a group of 20, say, depart at once, the background music instantly heads south to ensure the levels aren’t jarring. When AV Asia Pacific landed at the venue for an ale, the Darling Harbour ferry’s toot was loud enough to duck the BGM. Which Showtime’s Project Manager Aaron Lee assured me was an easy fix!
“We were given the luxury of a good audiovisual budget to spec an appropriate system into this venue,” noted Aaron Lee. “As an audio guy myself, I know that if a venue’s music sound scratchy or edgy I don’t want to hang out very long. The audio is certainly a part of the venue that influences customers behaviour and sales.
“The All Hands’ audio is, in my opinion, nice and warm, and comfortable wherever you sit.
“The lighting, temperature, the aesthetics and the audio are all keeping me here spending money.”
RESPONSES