Case study: Designing lighting & audio inside Grantley Hall Hotel & Spa

Exterior of Grantley hall
730 565 Hamish Kilburn
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Case study: Designing lighting & audio inside Grantley Hall Hotel & Spa

Local custom integrator Clever Association worked with Grantley Hall Hotel & Spa to complete the design and installation of perfectly integrated lighting and audio control automation within the bedrooms and communal areas, inside and out. By specifying Sonance Landscape Series systems, the design team were able to ensure the experience of luxury extended to outdoor areas in order to keep up with modern traveller demands…

Exterior of Grantley hall

It’s all very well designing a beautiful interior space that cleverly injects biophilic design, but in order to create a truly cohesive language between inside and outside, designers should consider a dimentional approach to the look and feel of the space by considering the lighting as well as sound. For Grantley Hall Hotel & Spa, in order to do this trend justice, with a meaningful approach, the property called upon a supplier that could seamlessly elevate the entire consumer journey. By doing so, the Grade II listed building has proved that heritage buildings and technology can indeed work in harmony.

Situated on the outskirts of the Yorkshire Dales near Ripon on 30 acres of stunning woodland, parkland and grounds, and complete with its very own English-Heritage listed Japanese garden, the hotel is set to become one of the UK’s leading luxury hotel and spa retreats, immersing guests in complete luxury and relaxation. Many of the Georgian characteristics of the stately home have been preserved, but the 47 beautiful bedroom suites, spa, gymnasium, event spaces and nightclub also benefit from ultra-modern technologies. Local custom integrator Clever Association worked with Grantley Hall to complete the design and installation of perfectly integrated lighting and audio control automation within the bedrooms and communal areas inside and out.

All bedrooms are kitted out with a high-quality audio system, allowing guests to access their own music or stream from the hotel’s music library. Luxury Lutron lighting control, also present in the bedrooms, offers guests the ability to tailor lighting to their own needs and mood. In addition, Lutron Homeworks lighting is installed in all communal areas, ensuring the ideal light level at any given time. Similarly controlled by hotel staff, high quality audio extends to hospitality areas immediately outside the hotel.

The interior design project, which included Grantley Hall’s new ‘Three Graces Spa’ and innovative ‘ELITE’ luxury gym and wellness centre, answered the brief with thanks to the intuitive automation of both lighting and music distribution throughout the hotel to create the perfect ambience in any space at any time of day, season or specific occasion. As a result, staff are able to spend more of their time looking after guests while energy wastage is minimised, and the guest experience is enhanced by the magic of flawless touch control.

Grantley Hall - outside pool

Image credit: Jonty Wilde

Clever Association’s Anthony Gallon takes up the story: “We contacted Grantley Hall after we’d heard about its plans through the business grapevine. They were keen to use local companies so that helped our pitch. Grantley Hall is one of the biggest installations we’ve managed to date, but as with every project, the key objective was to deliver an impeccable standard of work within budget. Part of our competitive tender involved making sure that the client had all the demonstrations they needed to inspire confidence in the quality and performance of our work, in harmony with the hotel’s luxury ethos.”

When it came to designing the luxury al fresco area, the team required a reliable brand that’s products were tech savvy. “We approached Habitech for the outdoor audio elements required to cover extensive areas along the West Terrace including The Orchard, where a substantial sailcloth marquee covers a drinking and dining area,” explained the studio.

Grantley Hall, Sonance speaker“Similarly, a contemporary extension, including the ‘ELITE’ luxury gym and wellness centre and ‘Three Graces Spa’ complex, called for superior and consistent outdoor audio coverage. The design demanded long cable runs, super discreet aesthetics, full range sound quality, the capacity for high SPLs without distortion (although the systems are rarely driven hard) and excellent intelligibility at background levels. In other words, we needed to deliver the quality of audio definition that uninitiated hotel guests would notice. The Habitech team recommended the flagship Sonance Landscape Series speakers and Sonance amplification for the job, providing a custom design and SPL map for each area. In each case we used a mix of LS6TSATs, smaller LS4TSATs and LS12 in-ground subs either discreetly buried at the periphery or hidden within strategically placed planters. Landscape Series sats and subs also surround the spa’s pool area.

“Overall, we’re very proud of what we have achieved at Grantley Hall. This was a big project, which required integration precision, effortless ease-of-use for staff and guests, and absolute reliability. The systems, including the outdoor audio elements, are helping to fulfil our promise to Grantley Hall by working discreetly and beautifully, and the hotel is happy with our work. And we’re grateful to the team at Habitech for its design backup and product performance, which has been consistently excellent throughout our long partnership.”

Equipment specified:

  • Sonance SLS LS6TSAT satellite speaker x 18
  • Sonance SLS LS4TSAT satellite speaker x 24
  • Sonance SLS LS12T in-ground subwoofer x six
  • Sonance DSP-2-150 amplifier x five
  • Sonance DSP-2-750 amplifier x two

> Since you’re here, why not read a case study from Sonance on how the brand fitting out the audio inside The Hendrick’s Gin Palace?

Sonance is one of our Recommended Suppliers and regularly features in our Supplier News section of the website. If you are interested in becoming one of our recommended suppliers, please email Katy Phillips.

Main image credit: Jonty Wilde

Hamish Kilburn / 14.10.2021

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