The high-life
Published: ASIA
The standards set for A/V equipment in luxury hotels is extremely high, so it should come as no surprise that Nanjing’s latest addition to this market has taken its BGM system very seriously. James Ling reports
The background music system is one of the vital components of any hotel install. It is used across the site to set the tone of the public spaces, and can have a major effect on the way people judge a hotel. This is particularly true in the highly-competitive luxury end of the market, where BGM is something that is taken extremely seriously.
In the luxury sector there is always a battle between interior design and sound design. The challenge for audio consultants is to create a system that is unobtrusive yet will provide levels of performance and versatility required by these high-end establishments, while overcoming acoustically reflective interior finishes to provide even coverage of high quality audio.
One recent addition to this sector is the InterContinental Nanjing. Situated in Gulou Square in central Nanjing, the hotel offers 443 guest rooms, four restaurants, four bars and lounges, two 1,000 sq-m ballrooms and seven breakout meeting rooms all served by various parts of the A/V system. The decoration inside the hotel is a combination of glass, marble and wood which while making it visually stunning, also presents acoustic challenges. The city itself is an important site for the luxury market in China. As one of the country’s four ancient capitals it has always attracted visitors with its history, but it is becoming increasingly important for business too, with a number of international firms establishing offices in the city. Added to this, it will also be the host city for the 2014 Youth Olympics, bringing thousands of visitors to the city.
One factor that makes this installation stand out though is the building in which it is situated. The InterContinental is a key component of the Nanjing Greenland Financial Complex, the second tallest building in China and seventh tallest in the world at 450m. The skyscraper was designed by architect firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill – the company behind the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa – and it shares a number of similarities with Dubai’s landmark tower. Both are multi-use facilities including private dwellings and a hotel, but perhaps more interestingly, the hotels in each of the two towers both rely on Tannoy loudspeakers at the heart of their sound systems.
While the prominence of both the city and the building serve the hotel well in attracting visitors, it is the facilities it offers that will encourage repeat business. It is here where the A/V system, and particularly the BGM are of great importance.
Building the system
The complete A/V system within the hotel was designed by Shanghai-based consultants CCW Design Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd. The BGM side covers all the public areas including lobbies, gymnasium, leisure centre, bars and restaurants, and the A/V solution has been installed in the meeting rooms, gymnasium, spa, leisure centre, bars, ballrooms and restaurants.
Loudspeakers from Tannoy are a key component of the design with nearly 300 used throughout the hotel. Unsurprisingly, the majority of these are ceiling speakers used for the BGM system. The installation project saw 67 CVS 4 and 84 CVS 6 full bandwidth blind mount models fitted, as well as 93 CMS 601DC full bandwidth high power handling, high sensitivity ceiling speakers.
Supplementing the system are 32 DI 5DC (Designer Install) surface mount speakers distributed across the bars, restaurants, lobbies and entertainment venues, as well as four VNET 12 Dual Concentricpoint source speakers and six similarly DSP-controlled and networkable VNET 15BP bandpass subwoofers.
‘The luxury hotel sector has remained a key growth area for Tannoy over the past few years, even during the economic downturn,’ says Tannoy’s Mark Flanagan. ‘It’s one area where compromise is rarely acceptable and so it’s perhaps a glowing compliment and positive reflection on the quality of Tannoy’s in-ceiling loudspeakers to see them specified so frequently in the most prestigious projects within that marketplace. Its especially noted to have our products installed within some of the tallest buildings in the world – this being the seventh tallest – and hot on the heels of the world’s tallest (Burj Khalifa) last year, incidentally designed by the same architects.’
The company tasked with the job of installing this equipment was Shanghai Yanhua Smartech Co. The installation company was approached by both CCW and the owner of the hotel to work on the project. It was a 14 month installation for the project manager and his team. Alongside the Tannoy speakers, the project also included Biamp Audia processors, MC2 Audio E4-75 amplifiers, various equipment from Extron, with audio networking via Cobranet protocol. and was networked using Cobranet technology.
The biggest challenge for the installer was the changing decoration inside the hotel, explains Yanhua Smartech’s Peng Xifeng. This led to a requirement for a high level of coordination to ensure the installation was correct as well as an adaptation of the original designs on site to meet the hotel’s changing needs.
The equipment for the project was supplied by Tannoy’s Chinese distributor Melody Development Co. Melody became involved in the project after the initial design phase through the recommendation of both the consultant and the installer. The company supplied not only the speakers for the project, but also the amps and processors too. It was able to do this from its existing stock and only needed to purchase a small amount of additional equipment specifically to fulfil the order.
While for many companies the work would have stopped with the completion of the project in May 2010, this is not the case for Melody. As Tannoy’s distributor in the country, it will continue to provide after sales support to the hotel through technical support and debugging.
The end result of this project is satisfaction for all the companies involved. For Yanhua Smartech it has become a reference project, and the installer reports that there was almost nothing it would have done differently. For the client it has got the high-end audio system to meet its needs as a luxury hotel, and with the hard work and dedication shown by all involved the hotel has every right to describe itself as happy with its new sound system.
While the rival arts of interior design and sound design will always clash, the importance of both in a luxury hotel should never be underestimated. This project highlights that both can be accommodated, and when done sympathetically around each other, the results can be very positive.
Much like the city of which it provides panoramic views, the InterContinental Nanjing makes a grand statement. It has achieved the very challenging aim of being both stylish and functional, and through good A/V design it has a sound system that backs up its status as a luxury destination.