COMPLETED PROJECTS - COCOON
Creative
sound design and installation company CP Sound has completed an innovative,
eye-catching new integrated audio system at Cocoon in Regent Street.
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CP Sound encountered many challenges throughout the project, the major one being the design and build of 18 special custom spherical speakers for the venue. These contain JBL components, and were designed and produced by CP Sound’s in house team. CP Sound was won the contract on the strength of previous highly successful and interesting one-off projects for Cocoon owners/operators, Ignite. The entire geometry, design and individual ambience of Cocoon – created by the renowned New York-based Stephan Dupoux, cuts a real contemporary dash. It revolves around a spatially lavish series of interlocking circles and spheres – incorporating many pre-shaped architectural elements like rooms, windows and stairs. This very specific
environment required highly precise audio to maximise its surfaces,
reflections other sound image nuances, “The only way to achieve
exactly what they wanted was to start from scratch, producing a
special sound design that incorporated both bespoke and off the
shelf elements” explains CP’s Colin Pattenden. |
The sonic requirement was for a powerful quality background sound system in all areas, plus a DJ within the central bar and lounge area. Pattenden has zoned Cocoon into 8 separate areas using a Cloud zoner, complete with 8 separate level controls, accessible from behind the bar. A world of their Own - Spherical Speakers The visual intricacy of the environment meant that spherical speakers were the only option for cabinets needing to be in view – anything square or rectangular would’ve grated against the aesthetics and looked misplaced. Pattenden had
the 300 mm ‘eyeball’ spheres made from glass fibre and
fitted them with JBL components to create the mid-highs he needed.
These are dubbed ‘JBL Control 26CS’ by CP Sound, who
are producing a full range including bass. |
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The 17 bass speakers in the cocoons – colour coded JBL SB2s - are floor mounted and concealed behind the series of curved, wispy voile curtains dividing each area. The VIP room at the far end features more hidden bass and JBL Control 25 enclosures. All other cocoons have four tops – two spherical JBL Control 26CS’s in view and two hidden JBL Control 25s, plus two concealed SB2s in each. The central bar/lounge area has four Control 26CS spheres. These are painted olive green to blend with the décor, while those in the individual cocoons are all gold, matching the wall colours. Additional ‘ooomph’ in the bar is added by JBL Control 28’s – to ensure the sound kicks arse when required for DJ sets. In the lounge area off the central bar, the bass speakers also had to be hidden, so Pattenden took four JBL Control 19CS flanged ceiling subs, and mounted them vertically into the wall. The lounge area also has four of its own sphere speakers. Audio is piped
to the two sets of toilets via JBL 24CT Micro speakers. |
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Pattenden says, “One of the many beauties of JBL is that its speakers all have the same tonal quality whatever the type, so wherever they are positioned, you have a uniform ‘sound’. A venue like Cocoon needs a very high quality sound – whether it’s the toilets, the bar, at the tables or in the DJ area. People don’t want to step out of a pleasant aural experience in somewhere like the restaurant into anything less elsewhere - like the toilets or reception area.” He adds that he’s worked closely with JBL’s UK distributor Harman Pro UK and account handler Andy Duffield on the Cocoon project, “Their support and advice has been second to none” he states. RSE amplification is used throughout – a total of 10 amps in all producing a total of 5000 watts. These are shoehorned into a very tight air conditioned room in specially built CP Sound portable racks. Pattenden specified a standard DJ set up including a hand held Shure mic, and AKG radio mic and a mic stand – giving them the option of use for conferences/receptions. There’s a Denon CD player, two Technics decks including Stanton carts, an Allen & Heath Xone 6:2 mixer and a JBL Control 28 DJ monitor. The background music system plays off a Mac G4 PowerBook. The huge challenge with the job was getting the spheres made to exactly the right specification and mounting them seamlessly on the ceiling, which is achieved using a large rubber ‘O’ ring to keep them stable.
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