The Calile Hotel

About the hotel

The Calile was always going to be a special hotel. Amongst the many hotel openings in Brisbane for 2018, it was a big challenge to stand out but the challenge was met. Spanning half a city block and 8 stories tall, this opulent building features a raw industrial finish with exposed concrete, stone, Travertine and cork lined walls and floors. A integral element of the external façade is the 270,000 white bricks that line the arches and first level, only making way for breeze block openings aiming into the corridors. All of these design elements bring to life a building that is eminently suited to Brisbane’s fine sub-tropical climate. The hotel also features 178 guest rooms, 30m pool surrounded by palm trees and cabanas, an award winning restaurant (HELLENIKA), cocktail bar called Lobby Bar and a retail arcade featuring among other things, a number of exclusive fashion boutiques.

About the Audio Visual

Soho Sound Design was engaged from the beginning of the project to design, supply and install a world class audio visual system that would reliably service the hotels daily needs with minimal requirement for external equipment and labour hire. Any element of the system had to be easily accessed and changed by staff from in-wall touch panels, smart phones and tablets. Absolute attention to architectural detail was required such that almost all AV components are hidden or discretely placed along with other fittings to reduce their visual presence.

A crucial and underlying element of the Calile Hotel is the audio experience. Right from the minute a guest parks in the set down to when they enter their room, they are experiencing full range high fidelity audio. The hotel common areas, pool deck, bars and function rooms are equipped with Meyer Sound MM10XP subwoofers and either MM4XP surface mount or Ashby5C in-ceiling tops. The two premier suites each have a Meyer Sound system on their private terraces on level 7. The IntelligentDC architecture allows for reduced rack sizes and displaced heat generation as each loudspeaker houses its own amplifier. The externally located loudspeakers also have to withstand extreme weather conditions for much of the year including heat and humidity as well as wild storms with torrential downpours. A number of loudspeakers are located in garden beds and planters and receive daily water exposure.

A BSS Soundweb London DSP network carries and manages all audio feeds for the hotel including the premier suites. This system has over 120 inputs and outputs and utilises Dante to carry audio between racks on the 10GB fibre backbone. Atterotech 2x2 Dante endpoints are used in the gym and premier suites due to their small size and silent operation. Eight channels of ListenTech AudioEverywhere provide WiFi based real time audio to guests smart devices for personal listening and hearing augmentation throughout the whole building.

The video distribution is handled by JustAddPower HD over IP transmitters and receivers. 10GB fibre back bones allow any display to view any source regardless of what rack they are run from. The JAP endpoints also carry power ON and OFF control information to the TVs and projectors minimising the number of wires required at each point.

RTI controls all audio visual components in the building. A lot of the daily operational tasks are automated however each function room and common space has access to at least one 7” touch panel for on the fly changes. A number of in-house iPads allow staff to control the whole system while roaming, iPhone interfaces allow for onsite and offsite control of audio source and volume which allows management to remotely monitor how the system is being used.