The Client

Located in the heart of London’s theatreland, in Rupert Street, Hovarda bar and restaurant delivers Greek and Turkish cuisine inspired by the flavours of the Aegean Sea.

The sleek seafood eatery offers both informal and formal dining options, with a full a la carte menu in its relaxed, and chic cocktail bar and lounge, whilst the more formal ground floor restaurant includes countertop dining with a full view of the chefs at work in the high-energy kitchen.

While the emphasis is on freshly caught seafood lovingly grilled in Hovarda’s firepit, non-fish eaters won’t be disappointed either; Saganaki, an oven-baked feta served with truffle honey and basil, or Kleftiko, succulent slow roasted Ryeland lamb won’t disappoint.

However, for music lovers and the party crowd, the magic begins after dark when a host of international DJs from Ibiza, Mykonos and Burning Man take to the decks from 10pm to 1am, Thursday evening through to Sunday.

Project Brief

Hovarda required a premium quality, multi-zone distributed audio system to match its first-rate food and service standards. The system needed to provide smooth, even coverage of high quality audio across the premises – even in the WC. Significantly, the setup had to be in line with their existing aesthetic.

The system also had to be capable of delivering higher sound pressure levels (SPL) to accommodate visiting DJs, allowing them to plug-in and play with ease.

System Solution

The audio project at Hovarda was managed over a nine-month period between initial site meetings, systems design proposals, first and second fixes, and finally system commissioning.

We installed Funktion One F55 compact loudspeakers on the ground floor to welcome guests arriving at Hovarda with high-quality audio as soon as they walk in. They are also the loudspeaker of choice for the restaurant and double height atrium dining areas on the ground floor, as well as the first-floor lounge.

We supplemented the sound system on the first floor with additional Funktion One MB112 slimline, compact subwoofers, which provide great bass extension to the F55s, allowing the upstairs system to handle higher SPLs for when the DJs take to the decks. We also added local plug-and-play connection points to allow visiting DJs to plug in to the installed system.

Audio to each zone is routed via the BSS BLU-100 processor to allow the remote adjustment of volume levels in each area.

End Game

“For this project, which is a very chic venue, we called upon the services of Sound Division to provide the audio system solution as we knew we could rely on David’s team to deliver on time and to the agreed budget. As usual, they did an excellent job.” — Paul Weldon Browne, Weldon Browne Consulting

• Architects / Interior Design: Lazaro Rosa Violan
• Main Contractor: du Boulay Contracts
• Project Management: Arazu Consulting
• F&B Consultant: Weldon Browne Consulting