Indeed, the overall emphasis appears to have been on ensuring flexibility of usage. “I was determined at Vanilla that if we wanted to throw, for instance, a Pink Party, we could do so by changing the interior using LEDs,” said Destandau. “I thought how cool it would be change the environment at a flick of a switch, and how great it would be for the corporate market.”
The Sound Division Group was given a precise brief, and worked with Lighting Effects Distribution – which provided lengths of LED X-Chip to wash, uplight and backlight the bar front and rear (including bottle washes), the kitchen front, the coves and even the toilets – to realise it.
When it came to designing the venue’s audio, Sound Division’s Elliot Patterson worked with JL Contracting’s Richard Astley to develop a four-zone layout, controlled and remotely operated by a dbx ZonePRO 640. In the restaurant, the specification includes four corner-mounted JBL Control 23s driven by a Crown Xls 202, with a JBL Control 24CM flush ceiling solution selected for the main bar and central lounge area. Four JBL Control 28s and a groundstacked Martin AQ12 sub – driven by Crown Xti 1000 and Xls 402 (in bridged mode) – have been installed in the front dance area.
The toilets have also been highly specified, with both LED and a ceiling-mounted JBL 24C Micro flush system (no puns, please!). Background music, provided by 8-Track Music Solutions, is delivered via a pair of Apple Mac G4 computers.
“This business is all about relationships, and having worked with Sound Division and particularly David Graham at Firevault I was delighted to see they were able to interpret an entirely different brief at Vanilla, where we required ultimate flexibility,” noted Destandau.
