the harbord hotel

The Challenge

The heritage-listed Harbord Hotel on Sydney’s Northern Beaches set out to transform its upper levels into a dedicated live music and entertainment destination.

The brief called for a system capable of delivering the energy and impact of a serious live venue, including performance levels exceeding 100dB, while remaining sympathetic to the architecture and meeting strict acoustic requirements for the surrounding residential area.

Adding to the challenge, the existing hotel needed to remain open and operational throughout the works.

The Solution

Working closely with AKA Acoustics, The AVIT Group delivered an integrated audio solution built around K-array loudspeakers and Q-SYS processing and control.

K-array was selected to provide the high SPL, coverage and clarity required for live music without introducing large, visually intrusive loudspeakers throughout the heritage space. Multiple speaker types were integrated across the venue to provide consistent performance while complementing the architecture.

Q-SYS brings the system together, allowing the different technologies and audio zones to operate cohesively and giving the venue the flexibility required for live bands, entertainment and everyday hospitality use.

Careful planning was also critical to keeping Harbord Hotel trading. The AVIT Group completed extensive off-site preparation, programming and system testing before deployment, allowing the new head-end to be integrated with the existing system while the ground floor remained operational.

The Outcome

Harbord Hotel now has a high-performance live music system capable of delivering more than 100dB internally while meeting the acoustic and amenity requirements of its surrounding environment.

The new infrastructure was brought online rapidly, with the first zone operational by Monday morning following a Sunday night commencement and the complete system running by the end of the week.

The result is a live music destination where powerful audio, heritage architecture and hospitality coexist, giving Harbord Hotel the flexibility to bring bands and entertainment back to the local area without compromising the experience of the venue itself.

It is a project built on collaboration, careful planning and smart integration, demonstrating what can be achieved when AV is considered as part of the venue experience from the beginning.