SK Steak & Oyster

About the venue

Hidden at the back of the Calile Hotel at street level, SK Steak & Oyster is a restaurant focused on taking it back to basics. Where only the finest of produce and beverages are on offer along with an in-house baby grand piano. The experience can best be described as “a classic restaurant in every sense”.



The venue is in a double height ground level tenancy which offers floor to ceiling windows along one side of the room. Parallel to that is a mezzanine level complete with Juliet balcony overlooking the dining areas. The finish includes blue granite tiling meeting green stretches of carpet with pale timber trim including venetian blinds. True to the Calile aesthetic, plenty of exposed concrete fills most other areas including an external planter visible through the top window section facing Wandoo Street.

About the solution

As part of the build, Soho Sound was commissioned to design and install a complete audio, lighting and control system for the new restaurant. Common to the brief throughout the Calile Hotel, “visually discrete but effective” was the primary design criteria. This included loudspeakers, touch panels and other AV related fittings.

The sound system was a primary design element and due to the venue’s façade being predominantly glass and concrete, demanded a different approach to cabling and mounting. Seventeen MM4XP loudspeakers in white are installed throughout the venue. Twelve of these are mounted on brass plates suspended on dowel poles that allow the cable to cleanly reticulate up to the loudspeaker from a specifically designed channel housing all cabling. Four MM10XP subwoofers are mounted on the ground to provide even bass throughout the venue. Five MM4XPs provide coverage in the private dining area and mezzanine landing.

A unique element of the sound system is the ability to incorporate feeds from the in-house baby grand piano and vocal microphone. A custom designed “live mode” iPad interface provides a simple platform for any musician or staff member to pull a basic mix and send it to the whole venue without any additional sound equipment or operators. The interface also offers the in-house nightlife music feed on a separate channel simplifying intermission changeovers between sets.

Another major component of the venue is the lighting system where a mix of Dynalite and DALI drives the multitude of luminaries throughout the venue. In particular the DALI fittings provide smooth, granular and consistent dimming. Another advantage of digital dimming is complete immunity to the ripple (tariff) tones present into the power grid which induce transient flickering in standard LED bulbs. All lighting functions are controlled via the iOS screens and in-wall touch panel where staff can manually activate scenes, change circuit dimming levels as well as modify and store scenes as required.

All systems are centrally controlled by RTI. Staff have the choice to use iPads, iPhones or a permanent touch panel to control the audio and lighting as well as managing live performances during service. As is desirable in many venues, the majority of system daily changes are automated to minimise the need for staff interaction.

The end result is a clean and usable system that compliments the aesthetics and calibre of the venue itself, particularly the live music element. Without the seamless RTI interface and direct integration with the sound system, live music would have proven to be an inconvenience and operational imposition each week.