About the venue
From the creators of LONgTIME, sAme sAme is an evolution of the iconic laneway Thai restaurant that sparked a major part of Brisbane’s growing restaurant scene over the last few year. With its accompanying cocktail bar LOS, sAme sAme features very raw and exposed industrial detail where concrete floors and walls meet Vermiculite sprayed arched ceilings. Glass panels, poured concrete bars and tables furnished with wicker style weave chairs make the space feel cool and airy. sAme sAme also features natural greenery with 3m tall trees planted at the rear of the room under a large sky light in the ceiling. The mix of cream walls, black tiles, tinted glass and tightly controlled lighting makes the space appealing to the eye whilst affording a suitable degree of privacy for all diners.
LOS serves as a great bar for a drink while you wait for a spot in the bustling eatery downstairs. The LOS fit out is similar to sAme sAme however the cream and black gives way to a variety of differing shades of green, from the tiles and the vermiculite through to the fridges, beer taps and various fittings. The bar features an open air balcony with green seats, tables and a raised garden fernery. A second identical balcony is available for private functions and large group bookings.
About the Audio and Lighting
Soho Sound was commissioned to design and install a complete AV and control solution that would integrate with the space and staff workflow. As the restaurant was guaranteed to be busy from the second the front door first opened, all systems needed to be automated and simplified to reduce staff interaction and time spent looking after audio and lighting during service.
A major part of the project was the architecturally integrated sound system. Colour schemes were tightly controlled by the architects which meant that all metal fittings, including beer taps, fridges, metal shrouds and of course loudspeakers had to be custom coloured. sAme sAme has fourteen cream coloured Meyer Sound MM4XP throughout the restaurant. These are mainly integrated into the service channels along with the lighting, AC and EVAC. They are also perched on the shelves between wine bottles in the front bar. Two MM10XP subwoofers provide the low frequency response for the whole lower floor including the outdoor waiting area which has a single MM4XP in white. LOS features the same model loudspeakers supplied in the colour coordinated green which allows them fit into the space whilst also being a feature of the room. There are thirty loudspeakers in total across both levels, all custom coloured. Meyer Sound was the obvious choice for the job as the versatility of the MM4XP and its accompanying U bracket allowed it to perfectly mount in all required areas. Acoustically, both venues were extremely challenging however the naturally flat response of Meyer loudspeakers made it considerably easier to tune to these difficult spaces. The whole system is processed by a BSS Soundweb BLU-100 with BLU-BOB2 for a 12x16 IO configuration.
Another major portion of the project was the lighting integration and programming. Due to its smooth dimming of LED lamps and immunity to electrical grid ripple control tones, DALI was the obvious choice for both levels. Soho Sound was responsible for the design and commissioning of DALI and associated Dynalite gateway hardware. This included creating scenes and groups of fittings which were requested by the owners.
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The audio and lighting systems are controlled through custom iPad interfaces delivered through RTI. The staff rarely need to use these screens as a lot of daily tasks are automated and scheduled. When manual control is required, it is easily achieved through any number of iPads located throughout both levels. Staff have immediate and granular control of volume and brightness in all areas as well as access to the pre-defined scenes that drive the daily consistency of the venue. Another handy feature is that the staff, with an elevated access code, can modify these scene to reflect the venue as it changes over time without the need for onsite technicians and call outs.
