Opened by Mark Birley in 1963, London’s most famous private member’s A-list nightclub has welcomed legends of film and music, models, heads of state, aristocrats and royalty, including the Queen.
Most recently, Annabel’s has moved to far larger premises nearby, in a £65m transformation of the grand Georgian townhouse that is the venue’s new home. The Grade I listed four-storey mansion boasts some of central London’s finest Palladian interiors, including a cantilevered stone staircase
Now owned by West End dining tycoon Richard Caring, the original Nina Campbell interiors have been tastefully updated for the 21st century by designer Martin Brudnizki, who was also responsible for the makeover of The Ivy and the interiors of Mr Caring’s new restaurants Sexy Fish.
The nightclub in the basement embodies the decadence and energy of the original Annabel’s, with the four floors of the 26,000sq-ft building now comprising a collection of new restaurants and bars, private dining rooms, a cigar salon and workspace. A large terraced garden is fitted with a spectacular glass roof to provide year-round dining.
Marquee AV was commissioned to install the sound systems and production lighting for Annabel’s, with the emphasis on providing quality for a world-leading venue. The equipment choice throughout was therefore top-end, while ensuring it would merge aesthetically with the venue’s interior design. The main club dancefloor system comprises L-Acoustics X8 loudspeakers combined with SB18 subs, flanked by hidden L-Acoustics Syva systems. An additional Syva system is located opposite the dancefloor to provide seamless quality across the basement area. L-Acoustics 5XT cubes are distributed around the perimeter of the dancefloor and throughout the basement floor for additional coverage and fill.
The production lighting in the club area comprised moving heads, LED Par Cans and LED wash units, mounted on three light bars above the dance floor. Lighting control is via a PC using ShowCAD and operated on a touch screen. Audio and video connection boxes were also installed at selected points in the basement and ground floor areas to allow for live performances at various locations.
Marquee AV installed each of the restaurants, bars, private dining rooms and public areas with its own appropriately high-end system, using optimum loudspeaker solutions from L-Acoustics, K-Array, d&b audio technik and B&W. Q-Sys wall panels provide local control in all rooms and DJ and A/V input is provided in many of the rooms to allow for their multi-function use.
