Design and consultancy · Glasgow
The Beresford, Glasgow: technology consultancy for an Art Deco venue
A full technology design for a restaurant and lounge in one of Glasgow’s Art Deco landmarks: needs analysis, survey, drawings, specification and procurement advice for the owners, before a cable was run.
Building
The Beresford, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow: an Art Deco building with a proposed restaurant and lounge venue
Client
The venue’s owners, two brothers, with their shareholders
Scope
Consultancy and design: needs analysis, site survey, system design with drawings and specifications, equipment and vendor selection, procurement advice
Systems specified
Cisco and Ruckus networking and Wi-Fi, Vaddio PTZ cameras, Wyrestorm NetworkHD video, Yamaha Pro Audio, Lilin IP CCTV
The building
The Beresford is one of Glasgow’s best-known Art Deco buildings, and the interior the owners had in mind for their restaurant and lounge was in the same spirit: murals, brass, colour and detail. Any technology in it had to serve the room without being seen in it, and the room was going to be judged on its atmosphere as much as on its food.
The brief
The two brothers behind the venue engaged us as their technology consultants rather than as installers. They wanted a design that covered everything the venue would need, from the network to the cameras, that fitted a budget, and that they could take to contractors with confidence. They also wanted to know what was possible: what the technology of the day could do for a dining room, and what was worth leaving out.
What we designed
Starting with what the venue is for
The work began with a needs analysis with the shareholders: what the venue had to do on a busy Saturday, on a quiet Tuesday and at a private event, what it had to cost, and what it must never do, which is to overpower the dining room. A site survey followed, recording the fabric, the routes available for cabling and the constraints of a listed-quality interior.
Ideas tested against the budget
We looked at the options in front of the market at the time, from projection mapping and interactive tables to smart lighting scenes and streaming, and prioritised each on its effect on the guest, its feasibility in the building and its cost. Some were kept, some were replaced with something that gave a similar effect for less, and some were dropped. The client saw the reasoning at every step.
Drawings and specification
The design was issued as drawings and specifications: loudspeaker and screen positions, camera coverage, rack layout, cable routes and the network plan, so that the owners and their contractors could see what would be built and where. Those documents were written to become the technical record of the venue, not just a proposal.
Equipment and procurement
The systems specified were Cisco and Ruckus managed gigabit networking and Wi-Fi throughout; Vaddio PTZ cameras for 4K live video to stream and to feed the venue’s own screens; Wyrestorm NetworkHD for lossless video distribution with room to add a video wall; Yamaha Pro Audio for zoned, controllable sound; and Lilin IP CCTV for local and remote monitoring. We advised on vendors and on how to run procurement so that the owners’ interests were represented.
The interior and the drawings
What we handed over
A complete design package: the needs analysis, survey findings, drawings, specifications and an equipment schedule prioritised against the budget, with a procurement and installation plan the owners could put out to contractors. The brief for the installation stage was for Lairds to act as the client’s advocate, checking that what was delivered matched what was designed.
The venue was never built. The pandemic changed the owners’ plans, as it did for much of Glasgow’s hospitality trade, and the project stopped at design stage. The package stands as the record of the work, and as a clear example of what a consultancy engagement produces before any contractor is appointed: a design the client owns, that any competent installer could price and build.
Systems specified
- Network Cisco and Ruckus managed gigabit networking and Wi-Fi throughout
- Cameras Vaddio PTZ cameras for 4K live video, streaming and in-house screens
- Video Wyrestorm NetworkHD distribution, expandable to a video wall
- Audio Yamaha Pro Audio, zoned and controllable
- Security Lilin IP CCTV with local and remote monitoring
- Documentation Drawings, specifications, rack layout and cable routes as the venue’s technical record
Related projects
Hendrick’s Gin Palace, Girvan
Building-wide audio, 4K video and a secure network
Ubiquitous Chip, Glasgow
Audio across the West End restaurant’s floors and bars
Gaucho, Edinburgh
Restaurant audio and video on St Andrew Square
Need a design before you need an installer?
We are engaged as consultants as often as installers. If a venue is at the drawing stage, a technology design that you own, written to a budget and independent of any supplier, is the cheapest decision in the project.