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Glaziers Hall – London Bridge, London

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Glaziers Hall is one of the premier corporate and private event venues in London, boasting both the history of this unique Livery Hall as well as its incredible location next to London Bridge. Constructed in 1808, it is a Grade II listed building and the final result of the painstaking renovations is a venue that is a blend of refined tradition and contemporary design.

Technical Arts was fortunate to be included in the huge refurbishment undertaken recently and the end result is quite stunning. Modern and bright, characterful and intimate, the varying spaces provide the perfect venue for all occasions. The lighting systems and designs were carefully implemented to complement these individual styles.

Large crystal chandeliers used in the Banqueting Hall add to its grandeur as well as their ability to change colour by using a hand-held tablet, allowing the room to transform according to the company, brand or theme of the event. The Banqueting Hall also benefits from uplighting the floor to ceiling wall coverings, similarly able to change colour, creating a vast canvas for the venue to play with.

The smaller rooms running alongside the River Thames itself benefit from lighting that makes the rooms feel light, bright and airy.

The Arches required a lighting system and audio system that is sympathetic to the history, design and architecture of the unusual space. Constructed into the wall of London Bridge itself, not much could be changed to make way for a new lighting system. As such, the wooden panel along the ceiling allowed the lights to be installed in this event space unobtrusively.

“Our vision was to convert and use more riverside space and create a unique environment using the walls from 1808. But of course part of the challenge was to achieve the right balance of sound in an entirely brick, underground and very reverberant chamber.” – Samantha Enstone, Glaziers Hall Managing Director.

Technical Arts were charged with finding a suitably versatile but highly discreet audio solution to this challenge, TA chose K-array speakers which fit the brief to a T. Long wooden rafts suspended from the ceiling in each of the arched vaults act as stylish counterpoints to the stone and brick whilst also housing lighting fixtures and additional speakers.

Samantha Enstone later praised the final product, “When we held our launch event in here we hosted a long table of 40 guests, and it was stunning – I could hear the audio perfectly. You can’t see the system and you don’t know where the audio is coming from, but it still sounds great. The result in here is far better than I thought it would be.”

Hard Rock Hotel – Goa, India

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In the heart of North Goa is Calangute, the beach-belt, party-capital of South West India, and in Calangute is the Hard Rock Hotel. Describing itself as an entertainment destination, Hard Rock Hotel Goa is an example of the Hard Rock Cafe mentality, going above and beyond what is expected.

The re-design of this hotel was undertaken by Fuse Studios in 2013, who recruited Technical Arts to design the lighting for the hotel and the all new Rock Shop.

Improvements were made to the bedrooms and the lobby, restaurants and pool were given facelifts too. Technical Arts oversaw that the lighting was both luxurious, warm and inviting whilst also being reflective of the Rock and Roll nature of the hotel.

The brief for this re-branding was to maximise the brand impact on a tight budget and a tight deadline. The one major installation permitted was the giant ‘Hard Rock’ sign above a mirror pool, certainly maximising brand impact when first entering the hotel.

Butlin’s – Bognor Regis, England

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Technical Arts were first approached by Bourne Leisure in February of 2018 in order to help them define and develop their requirements for a permanently installed audio system for the new Splash Pool development at the Butlins holiday resort in Bognor Regis.

The client brief requested a multi zone audio system capable of satisfying the day to day operation of the pool, with the capacity and the quality to provide high end, full range sound for the regular pool parties and adult only weekend special event programme.

A great idea of emphasis was placed on the need for the performance audio system within the pool to be heard but not seen. Technical Arts worked closely with the lead architect and partnered with 2B Heard to integrate K-Array ultra-discreet line array products onto decorative lampposts that flank the Wavepool.

Additional peripheral zones including the café and changing village were equipped with recessed and surface mounted loudspeakers from the Soundtube portfolio, providing high quality background music and paging.

Playboy Club – Mayfair, London

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With an ever increasing need to cater to high value clients in the Gaming sector, Caesar’s Entertainment UK identified a need to increase the number of VIP rooms available to their guests at the iconic Playboy Club in London’s Mayfair.

As Technical Arts have been associated with the company for years, we were contacted to provide a turnkey design and implementation package that would deliver high quality audio and video content to the new development, whilst offering simple local control over those disciplines.

Delivered on time and on budget Technical Arts met the needs of the project management team to ensure that the first VIP guests were met with the expected level of luxury and service demanded.

Hard Rock Cafe – Piccadilly Circus, London

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The new Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus combines the vibrant atmosphere of the location with the rock-and-roll attitude of the brand.

Well known for its large scale video displays, Piccadilly Circus’s new resident the Hard Rock Cafe followed suit. Technical Arts designed and installed a feature video wall on the ceiling above the stairs, enticing visitors from the Rock Shop through to the Cafe below.

It is hard not to be wowed on entry by what is now the largest Rock Shop in the world. Souvenir t-shirts, sweatshirts and keychains amongst other items fill the floor space but as Londoners know well – when in London, look up.

The ceiling has been turned into a Union flag, the LED strips combined with the video ceiling forming the flag of the United Kingdom. These LED strips are able to change colour, for example the rainbow colours of the recent PRIDE holiday. They are also programmed with the ability to adapt according to the continually changing colours of the video ceiling.

Downstairs is the all new Hard Rock Cafe, Piccadilly. A large bar and restaurant have been decked out to resemble a tube station; tiling on the floor and walls and lighting underneath the bar create this illusion.

Technical Arts were responsible for the lighting and video throughout the property, including the lighting of the alcoves, the memorabilia, the restaurant and bar and the Rock Shop.

Lighting Design Awards 2019

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We are delighted to announce that we were shortlisted for the Lighting Design Awards 2019, in the category of ‘Restaurant Project of the Year’!

The newly completed MNKY HSE, on Dover Street in Mayfair, reached the shortlist and thus fell under the description as one of “this year’s most innovative restaurant projects”.

A focus on sensory lighting that transforms the bold space as the night evolves creates the perfect space to, as MNKY HSE says, ‘eat, drink and play’.

Congratulations to everyone nominated and thank you to everyone involved!

Copper House – Berkhamsted, England

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Copper House is a newly opened independent bar and restaurant in Berkhamsted, occupying a unique Grade II listed building on the High Street.

Having undergone renovations and refurbishments it is now set to become the hub of social activity for the town, the restaurant enhancing the original features of the building with pared back yet luxe furnishings and an atmosphere to match.

Technical Arts designed and supplied the decorative lighting and audio for this new venture, from statement pieces by Tom Dixon to overhead bar lighting to create relaxed and glamorous lounge and bar areas.

Having liaised with the owners of this new establishment throughout the process on the limitations and benefits of working with a listed building, the finished product is something that is both respectful of its history and forthcoming and innovative with its design.

We wish Copper House all the best for their future, we’re looking forward to returning as soon as they stop being fully booked!

MNKY HSE – Mayfair, London

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Technical Arts designed and installed the lighting audio for the new restaurant-bar MNKY HSE on Dover Street.

A variety of lighting styles and techniques were employed to make MNKY HSE an exciting yet sophisticated haven for its guests.

Creating intimate spaces with edginess in mind, MNKY HSE and Technical Arts created a vibrant and sophisticated Latin American vibe.

Having completed the lighting design and installation to the restaurant & bar as a whole, we were delighted to be asked to return to design the lighting installation to the new private access staircase.

The lighting for MNKY HSE’s new private entrance is simple yet effective, channeling guests into the heart of Dover Street’s coolest new restaurant by way of specialist lighting projectors that create thin stripes of light and texture on an otherwise featureless wall.

 

Victoria Gate Casino – Leeds, England

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Technical Arts have just completed the lighting scheme at the stunning Victoria Gate Casino in Leeds.  A project, which for us has now spanned three years, is finally complete and was certainly worth the wait.

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The interior scheme by Leeds based Interior Designers, Fuse Studios, is perfectly complemented by our lighting scheme.  The combined efforts of Fuse Studios and Technical Arts have created individually styled intimate areas within the vast floor area which spans three floors.  The casino has 2 bars, a restaurant, stage, two gaming floors, poker room to name but a few of the delights within.

The casino has just opened to rave reviews and the client’s are delighted with the result.

Hard Rock Cafe – Copenhagen, Denmark

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The previous Cafe has served its last customer and the staff have now moved 300m to the brand new Hard Rock Cafe, Copenhagen in the City’s Central Square.  The interior design was undertaken by Fuse Studios who gave the new interior a distinctive and contemporary Danish influence, with clean lines, bold colours and even Lego-brick inspired ceiling rafts.

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With stunning new memorabilia adorning the walls and even the ceilings, the carefully selected pieces should satisfy even the most die hard of fans.  The original Metallica drum kit has been methodically dismantled and reinstalled and now graces the wall within the large new Rockshop.

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Technical Arts were commissioned to design the lighting and control system in both the cafe and the Rock Shop, as well as designing & manufacturing the ‘speaker’-lights suspended over the bar counter and the large chandelier featuring 75 negative images of some of Rock’s greatest acts.  The chandelier drops through an opening in the ceiling from the first floor to be visible from the entrance area.

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The installation uses a cutting edge control system and LED lighting throughout.  The entire building’s lighting is controlled from an iPad which also controls the music and video system.

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