Maison Bâtard

Maison Bâtard in Melbourne blends fine dining, rooftop hospitality and a nightclub within a four-level venue. Integrator Zelo Group implemented a unified audio system that delivers subtle background music in dining areas and high-energy sound in the basement club.

Built on Powersoft’s Unica platform, its dynamic power-sharing enables a single amplifier model to drive multiple zones. The result is a flexible, reliable audio backbone that adapts seamlessly from refined daytime ambience to late-night entertainment.

Maison Bâtard was conceived as a multi-level hospitality destination, combining fine dining, bar service and nightlife entertainment within a single venue.

From the earliest stages of the project, the design team aimed to ensure that the audio environment would support the distinct atmosphere of each space while remaining fully integrated across the building.
Long-time Lucas Restaurants partner Zelo Group was responsible for designing and implementing the venue’s audio infrastructure.

The venue spans four levels, including a refined restaurant environment, rooftop terrace and a basement entertainment space known as Le Club, which hosts high-energy music events and private performances.

To support these varied environments, the integrator implemented a centralised amplification system based on Powersoft’s Unica platform, allowing available power to be dynamically distributed across multiple zones throughout the venue.

This power-sharing architecture allows a single amplifier model to drive multiple loudspeaker types across the four levels, reducing equipment complexity while maintaining flexibility for future system adjustments.

The Unica amplifiers power a distributed EAW loudspeaker system, with discreet MKC series loudspeakers serving dining areas and higher-output systems installed in Le Club for nightclub-style events.

Because each amplifier channel can be individually addressed and controlled, venue operators can fine-tune audio levels across specific zones, enabling subtle background ambience in dining areas while maintaining powerful sound reinforcement in performance spaces.

The resulting system provides seamless audio coverage across the venue while remaining easy to operate and maintain.

One of the primary challenges was designing an audio system capable of supporting very different acoustic environments within a single building.
The venue required quiet, unobtrusive background music in dining areas where conversation is central to the guest experience, while the basement entertainment space demanded the power and clarity of a nightclub sound system.

Balancing these requirements required careful system design to ensure each area could operate independently without compromising the overall performance of the installation.

Another challenge involved maintaining equipment reliability and serviceability in a high-profile hospitality environment where system downtime would have a direct impact on the guest experience.

The system also needed to remain visually discreet, integrating seamlessly with the venue’s architectural design while still delivering high-performance audio across multiple floors.

Finally, the design needed to minimise rack space and energy consumption while maintaining the flexibility required to support evolving programming and private events.

Maison Bâtard takes a holistic approach to sound, treating it as an integral part of the guest journey rather than a background utility. A single, unified audio infrastructure underpins the entire venue, supporting everything from intimate dining to high-energy performances.

This cohesion removes the fragmentation often found in multi-space hospitality environments. Instead, operators benefit from precise control across all zones, ensuring that audio enhances, rather than overwhelms, each setting.

The project stands out for its ability to deliver both subtlety and power within one system, reinforcing the role of AV as a defining element of modern restaurant design.