Genelec scoops MONDO-DR award with Watson’s Bar project
Brought to you by the team behind MONDO-DR magazine, the MONDO-DR Awards were launched in 2017 to recognise and celebrate the best fixed installation projects from around the globe, divided into 12 categories. An independent and respected judging panel, made up of industry professionals along with previous winners, was responsible for choosing each category winner.
Both Watson’s Bar and the Mikkeller Bar in Shanghai were shortlisted in the Bar category, with Helsinki’s Lily Lee and Farang being nominated in the Restaurant section.
Watson’s Bar is part of The Rival hotel (co-owned by Benny Andersson of ABBA) – a luxury 99-room boutique hotel complete with bars, a bistro and café, modern meeting facilities and a theatre. Watson’s Bar is named after Benny’s faithful Jack Russell terrier; and offers food and drinks in a vibrant atmosphere with great music at the heart of the experience.
Adolfsson & Partners conceived, designed and delivered the new space, while AV integration specialists, Hages, were engaged to design and install a fully integrated sound system capable of delivering a high quality, relaxed music experience during the day as well as high energy DJ sessions for the evening crowd. Hages chose a system employing Genelec 4040 and 4030 loudspeakers supplemented by a 7360 subwoofer for low end reinforcement.
“Genelec is an ideal choice for this type of installation where sound quality, tonal balance and high reliability are paramount,” comments Thomas Axelsson of Hages. “Those were the client’s criteria, and Genelec ticks all of those boxes. It’s difficult to beat Genelec sound quality and reliability.”
Hotel Rival’s CEO Jesper Henryson is enthusiastic about the guests’ reactions to the new venue: “The response we received from guests during our opening week was absolutely fantastic. Both hotel guests and Stockholmers alike seem to have found a common meeting place to relax and enjoy great food and amazing cocktails in an atmosphere of jazz, funk and soul. Welcome to Watson’s Bar!”
We’d like to thank the teams involved in all four of the Genelec projects shortlisted, plus a big thank you to the MONDO-DR judging panel for selecting Watson’s Bar as the winner.