Case Study:
Dishoom Restaurant, Carnaby

Dishoom Restaurant Carnaby - Bars & Restaurants by CGA Integration

Outline

Dishoom has recently opened its fourth restaurant; Dishoom Carnaby on Kingly Street. Dishoom Carnaby has design references to 1960s Bombay and London, which complements its location. The 7,000 square foot restaurant is as ever, a loving homage to the old Irani cafés of Bombay and includes a Permit Room cocktail bar, several rooms for all day dining, an open kitchen and an enclosed terrace, which can be partially or fully covered for all year round enjoyment. CGA Integration has designed and installed the audio throughout Dishoom Carnaby, which needs to work hand in hand with the passion for food and culture delivered by the Dishoom team. Working with music provider Music Concierge, CGA Integration has ensured that the chosen music tracks, to fully immerse customers in the Dishoom experience, can be heard at their very best.

Challenges

Dishoom Carnaby is a very different acoustic space to Dishoom King’s Cross. The venue comprises of a bar, restaurant and courtyard across a single floor with low ceilings and soft furnishings, which is acoustically very different to the harsher acoustic environment of the unique listed site of Dishoom King’s Cross. The major challenge for CGA was to ensure that each Dishoom restaurant feels and sounds fantastic, to deliver a great experience across each of the restaurants whatever the venue. Dishoom Carnaby is split into nine different audio zones, due to different ceiling heights and decorative finishes. The sound system needs to deliver flexibility to reflect the time of day or occasion, as well as allowing audio continuity across all of these areas, to generate a seamless audio experience. In addition it has to be easily operated by the staff.

Technical

Ease of staff control of the sound systems was delivered through wall mounted controls. These were the same as those installed by CGA in Dishoom King’s Cross and were programmed using a similar configuration, thus generating familiarity to any staff moving between Dishoom sites.

The audio was delivered throughout by installing EV Evid ceiling speakers; some were mounted within the ceiling design and others were ceiling speakers, all generating sound quality with minimum visual impact to complement the Dishoom interior design.

CGA Integration also used a Netmax digital sound processor supported by EV multichannel amplifiers. This ensured that all nine areas of different speakers could work together to create a seamless audio experience throughout the venue; from the kitchen servery and toilet areas in the basement, along the stairway transition into the bar and restaurant and outside to the courtyard.

Response

Shamil Thakar one of the founders of Dishoom commented; “CGA Integration have designed and installed a balanced, great sounding system, which you can hear clearly whilst still being conducive to conversation. Music is such an important element in delivering the unique buzz and vibe of Dishoom but equally our customers want to be able to easily hold a conversation, CGA have got the balance just right.”