The Location

Affectionately known as The Espy, this iconic seaside establishment has a rich history and has been a staple of St. Kilda for generations.

Open since 1878, it’s hard to overstate how important The Espy is to the people of Melbourne.

The Challenge

Purchased by Sand Hill Road in early 2017, The Espy closed it’s doors for a prolonged period of time. During this time, prodigious redevelopment works were taking place behind closed doors.

The great challenge was to provide an audio solution, across a multitude of zones, that would represent how truly amazing this building is.

Our team at Element Audio were very excited to be a part of this project and a part of this establishments incredible history.

Entrance @ The Espy (Photo: Billy Roberts, 2019)

The Solution

Completing an audio installation and integration at a venue that is a full-time building site is no walk in the park.

Our team was able to successfully complete the task at hand, while working in conjunction with redevelopment builders and the Sand Hill Road IT specialists.

Interior @ The Espy (Photo: Billy Roberts, 2019)

Contacted by Johnston Audio Services, our installation team was tasked with installing and integrating the audio systems in the following iconic rooms:

Downstairs Bandroom
Back Bandroom
Gershwin Room
Foyers

A combination of Outline, Quest and BSS hardware proved an effective pairing - allowing for full BSS integration and control throughout the premises.

A segregated network and infrastructure was also integrated in the form of a VLAN (Virtual LAN) network, ensuring that all audio processing and control devices would not be impacted by sharing bandwidth with other devices.

Audio and data communications were integrated between all rooms, allowing for control and management from afar.

Customised fly-brackets were employed in the Upstairs & Foyer areas to ensure reliability and allow for event-based flexibility.

To commission the zones within the venue, our team at Element Audio worked very closely with the IT team at Sand Hill Road to get the job done and provide long-lasting effective networking solutions.

The Result

We let our work do the talking.

The Espy is quite literally a must-see attraction of Melbourne’s thriving hospitality and entertainment scenes. If you are not already familiar with this outstanding space, you need to make plans to go there!