Bars, restaurants, hotels and workplaces · Girvan, Ayrshire · 2019

Hendrick’s Gin Palace, Girvan

Building-wide audio, 4K video and a secure network for William Grant & Sons, designed to be heard everywhere and seen nowhere.

Building

Distillery visitor building for the Hendrick’s brand, William Grant & Sons

Architect

Michael Laird Architects

Scope

Zoned audio, 4K video distribution, projection theatre, wired and wireless network, remote support

Partners

Solus Lighting, Gallo Acoustics, VirtualOn

The building

The Gin Palace is Hendrick’s home at the William Grant & Sons distillery in Girvan: a bar, a laboratory, a lecture theatre, a glasshouse, corridors and a set of brand rooms, each with its own character and its own job. It was designed by Michael Laird Architects as a place for invention, and it has since been featured by Hotel Designs.

The brief

The brand team wanted technology that added to the atmosphere without being visible in it. Different sound levels in different zones, from background music in the lab to full level in the bar; 4K video in every space including the theatre; a wired and wireless infrastructure that would outlast the fit-out; hardware and network security with remote monitoring; and, in their words, something quirky and unusual, eye-catching but invisible. It also had to be robust enough to run presentations, launches and tastings in the same week.

What we designed

Infrastructure first

A building-wide wired infrastructure carrying 4K video distribution, zoned audio and secure Wi-Fi, with Ruckus networking and access points and a remote support platform so faults are seen before anyone in the building notices them. Control of the whole system runs over the secured wireless network.

Sound that fits the interior

Sonance in-wall and in-ceiling loudspeakers throughout the bar, lab, theatre, corridors and brand WCs, driven by Sonance amplification. In the glasshouse, where a white ceiling grille would have jarred, four Gallo Acoustics A’Diva spheres were colour-matched to the room. Each zone has its own level and source, so the lab can murmur while the bar is up.

Picture where it is wanted

A WyreStorm 4K matrix feeds every display. In the bar, a custom mirrored glass frame hides the screen until it is switched on. The theatre next door has projection and a cinema screen for presentations and film. There is also a retro-styled mobile video platform that can be wheeled wherever a launch needs it.

Working with the design team

Lighting was by Solus Lighting of Glasgow and the mirror optics by VirtualOn. The audio and video positions were agreed with the architect and the brand team before first fix, which is why nothing had to be surface-mounted afterwards.

Inside the Gin Palace

The bar at the Hendrick’s Gin Palace, Girvan, with concealed Sonance audio installed by Lairds AV

Glasshouse at the Hendrick’s Gin Palace with colour-matched Gallo Acoustics loudspeakers

Copper stills at the Hendrick’s Gin Palace distillery in Girvan

What we handed over

A documented, tested infrastructure; zone-by-zone audio the staff control from the secured wireless network; a video system that reaches every room from one rack; and remote monitoring so the building is supported without a visit. It has been in daily use for launches, tastings and tours since it opened.

The Gin Palace is also the reason we later rebuilt the network infrastructure at the William Grant & Sons headquarters. WyreStorm, whose matrix distributes the video, have published their own account of the Gin Palace.

Equipment

Bar 8 Sonance VP66R in-ceiling loudspeakers, display behind a custom mirrored glass frame
Lesley’s Lab 4 Sonance VP66R
Lecture theatre 6 Sonance VP66R, 4K projection and cinema screen
Corridors and brand WCs 16 Sonance VP66R plus WC zones
Glasshouse 4 Gallo Acoustics A’Diva, colour-matched
Amplification 2 Sonance 12.50, Yamaha MusicCast
Video distribution WyreStorm 4K matrix, retro mobile video platform
Network Ruckus networking and Wi-Fi, remote support platform
Mirror optics VirtualOn

Opening a venue?

The positions for loudspeakers, screens and cabling are decided with the interior architect, not after them. If a bar, restaurant or brand space is on the drawing board, tell us about the building and the opening date and we will fit the design around both.

Tell us about the building