London-based integrator Tateside has provided A/V and IT solutions at several WatchHouse design-conscious cafés. This includes background music and digital signage.
Around the corner from the inaugural Bermondsey House is café is the Roastery, which allows WatchHouse to create local blends and premium coffee for all of its locations. Recognised for its stylish interiors – the result of collaborations with – award-winning interior designers – WatchHouse prides itself on distinctive aesthetic of each location.
‘WatchHouse sought a partner to handle both IT and A/V aspects during the scaling of operations,’ says at Tateside Technical Director, Jack Cornish. ‘We’re providing them a complete solution, from initial design, through to implementation and ongoing support.’
Maintaining each venue’s individuality may present a challenge when it comes to scalability, but this has proved to be an opportunity for the Tateside team to showcase the versatility of their skills and the diversity of the brands they work with. For background audio, Tateside specified loudspeakers in various formats, from discreet slim-line boxes to ‘invisible’ speakers hidden behind wooden panels to lighting track-based loudspeakers. Some fitouts have included digital projection for menu displays, requiring careful placement of projectors within joinery or walls. Tateside also installed compact DSP amplifiers from Powersoft with simple user control from on-wall control panels.
‘One example of the work we’re doing with WatchHouse is the Fenchurch Street branch, where we used Origin Acoustics discreet opening speakers and subwoofers to provide a great audio experience with minimal visual impact’ Cornish explains. ‘An Epson 4K super-ultra-short-throw laser projector is used to display the digital menu onto a beautiful solid marble wall. It was important that the projector was out of sight so we designed this into the joinery detail above with a slot for the projected light ensuring that the projector could not be seen from underneath. We used a 4K BrightSign player as we love their reliability and we used Embed Signage for our cloud-managed CMS for all remote content management and scheduling.’
Tateside also provides a passive and active IT infrastructure and ongoing support. ‘While the backend stays the same, each house requires something different, so we’re drawing up the plans for each branch, organising and fitting the Wi-Fi, the switches, the routers, dealing with the ISP and the A/V system,’ Cornish says. ‘After the installation is complete, we’re then available to provide support in case of any issues and keep the system up to date through our Managed Services team.’
As part of WatchHouse’s expansion plan, Tateside is currently working on active projects in Canary Wharf, Hampstead Heath, Marble Arch and Fitzrovia, as well as in New York.
‘As WatchHouse grows it’s reassuring to know that our technology needs are entirely taken care of by Tateside,’ says WatchHouse CEO and founder, Roland Horne. ‘Each of our houses possesses a unique identity and working with the Tateside team we’re able to retain the same language of our spaces while ensuring a consistent high-quality execution of the technology. Tateside has welcomed the challenge of fitting out our branches with the best yet most discreet technology and we can’t wait to see the creative solutions they bring as we continue to expand.’
‘Following WatchHouse’s recent funding round, they aim to open 500 houses by 2033,’ says Cornish. ‘We’ll be working with them to execute multiple active projects at any one time which will allow us to demonstrate our project management skills. It’s a pleasure to work with WatchHouse; they don’t cut corners when it comes to creating these impressive spaces.’
More: www.tateside.com
