Virgin Hotels Edinburgh

Virgin Hotels Edinburgh in Old Town’s India Buildings blends luxury and technology, reflecting the brand ethos through personalised service and a fusion of food, music, design, and local culture. With Adlib, they enhanced the guest experience with a bespoke audio environment, aligning with the brand’s musical focus and commitment to excellence.

The hotel’s Commons Club, a central social hub, features distinct spaces such as The Bar, The Shag Room, The Kitchen, and The Restaurant, each offering a unique experience. The Bar, equipped with QSC AD-S4T loudspeakers and QSC AD-S28T subwoofers, provides a cosy setting for guests to enjoy cocktails and connect with others. The Shag Room, powered by LA2Xi and L-Acoustics X8 loudspeakers, offers an immersive audio experience in an intimate environment.

Descending to the lower level, guests discover The Kitchen and The Restaurant, showcasing local and international cuisine. These dining venues are enhanced by discreet audio installations featuring QSC AD-S.SAT loudspeakers and QSC AD-S.SUB subwoofers concealed in furnishings.

Eve, a dedicated live venue, restaurant, and coffee bar at the hotel, features industry-leading audio equipment, including the main hang of L-Acoustics A10i Wide and A10i Focus loudspeakers per side with KS28 subwoofers behind. Two pairs of L-Acoustics X12 delay loudspeakers complement these to maintain consistent sound levels throughout the room without making the area immediately in front of the stage overbearing.

For mixing and playback, Adlib integrated an Allen & Heath SQ5 console with a DX168 Stagebox, two Pioneer CDJ2000NXS2 decks, a Pioneer DJM900 mixer, and two limited-edition red Technics SL1200M7L turntables to keep within the brand colours.

The Courtyard, equipped with QSC loudspeakers, ensures a fantastic audio experience indoors and outdoors. Greyfriars Hall, a versatile function room, offers impeccable sound quality with L-Acoustics Syva loudspeakers and bass extensions.

Across public areas like the Coffee Bridge, Funny Library, Reception, or Oculus Lounge, guests can enjoy high-quality audio from QSC pendant and ceiling loudspeakers discreetly integrated into the spaces.

With over 120 loudspeakers integrated by Adlib, the audio environment at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh has been transformed, enhancing the overall guest experience, and paying homage to the brand’s musical heritage.

The networking aspect of the audio installation at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh plays a crucial role in delivering reliable audio distribution and a smooth user experience for the hotel’s staff throughout the building.

The installation utilises the QSC CXD8.4Q, CXD4.3Q, and CXD4.2Q network power amplifiers to amplify the audio signals, ensuring crystal-clear sound reproduction across all venues. The QSC Q-Sys I/O-8 Flex expands the system’s input and output capabilities, accommodating various audio sources and destinations.

At the heart of the network infrastructure are the QSC NS-1148P and NS-1124P Q-Sys network switches, facilitating smooth communication between devices for optimal performance. Together, these components create a robust and intricate audio ecosystem within the hotel, offering its users an efficient and feature-packed audio solution that is easy to use via a web browser or dedicated iPad tablets anywhere in the building.

Each hotel within the Virgin Hotel group is distinct in its construction and operations. This uniqueness posed challenges in meeting clients’ overall expectations while not being able to rely on previous hotel venues to influence the design and operation of the audio systems.

The majority of the hotel is situated within a historic building in Edinburgh’s old town, specifically the India Buildings. This presented challenges in installing a building-wide audio system in the required locations, particularly concerning cabling. It was essential to ensure that this infrastructure did not obstruct or damage the distinctive features of the India Buildings that contribute to the venue’s character and uniqueness. This often involved routing cabling in unconventional ways to avoid these elements or ensuring that speakers in specific locations seamlessly blended into the surroundings, such as using custom-coloured cabinets. Additionally, audio speakers were strategically positioned to harmonise with other elements in the room while maintaining the necessary audio quality throughout all public spaces in the hotel.

The main function space of the hotel is situated on the lower ground floor, within the newly constructed part of the building, catering to events as well as serving as an active restaurant and bar based on the venue’s requirements. With accommodation located above, acoustic isolation was crucial. This necessitated the installation of specialist heavy-duty acoustic isolated hangers to minimise transient noise from the function space.

This hotel project is a unique venue that demanded a sophisticated audio management system to cater to a diverse range of public and private spaces, each with distinct acoustic and aural requirements. Some areas necessitated the audio system to be discreetly concealed, with both loudspeakers and audio inputs designed to blend seamlessly with the unique décor of each space. This approach ensured functionality when required, while remaining inconspicuous to the general public and venue patrons.

With a multitude of elements to consider, the hotel maintains a high standard of audio quality throughout, enhancing the user experience with comfort and enjoyment in a memorable setting.