Old Hollywood Glamour Goes Modern: EVELYN Lounge Opens in Dallas with 1 SOUND

This article was originally published in Mondo-DR magazine and can be read here: https://www.mondodr.com/evelyn/

Bespoke Technology Group and 1 SOUND join forces to outfit Dallas’ newest venue,a glamorous lounge inspired by a popular book, with an audio system that’s striking in both design and sound.

Upon its release, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ quickly became a critically acclaimed bestseller. The Old Hollywood-influenced story has since garnered a passionate fan base, only growing in relevance within the romance and drama genres to this day. One member of its following is a co-owner of Reach Hospitality, the organisation behind multiple upscale venues, who found that the novel made the perfect backdrop for their latest dining experience.

The proposed space was to be an elegant steakhouse and lounge, located in Dallas’ Design District. With an aesthetic and atmosphere derived from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, the venue fittingly has seven different rooms and was named EVELYN. When it came to designing an audiovisual solution for EVELYN, Reach Hospitality pursued an alternative approach to the conventional model. Instead of first meeting with an installer, the company reached out to 1 SOUND, informing the manufacturer that they already knew they needed a 1 SOUND setup for their desired outcome. 1 SOUND subsequently introduced Reach to integrator Bespoke Technology Group, who entered the project in collaboration with the manufacturer’s CEO, Lou Mannarino. Phil Ayache, President of Bespoke Technology Group, recalled the beginning of the installation.

“From the very first meeting with the owners and Lou, it became very apparent that every aspect of EVELYN was being built around having the greatest sound possible. The materials used to furnish and finish the rooms, and even the way the venue was constructed, it was all in aid of curating the best acoustic environment.” He continued, “For this project, the way the space sounded was the most important consideration. As an audiophile, I love working with clients who have this mindset.”

Reach Hospitality had an extremely positive experience with 1 SOUND’s products before, which inspired this latest utilisation. Similarly, Ayache’s relationship with the brand was strong. “I first worked with 1 SOUND in 2021, and honestly, I haven’t looked back,” he noted. “It’s always going to be my go-to manufacturer. It also helps that Lou is so great. He’s an absolute wizard of an audio engineer who really cares about the acoustics.” When it came to positioning the 1 SOUND systems for EVELYN, Ayache explained that the three main rooms, the dining room, the primary bar, and the lounge, had very distinct and different requirements. “The dining room has a classical, refined feel to it; this was probably the simplest of the rooms to create an audio system for, as the only music to be played was to be a live pianist. The space didn’t call for much, we deployed four of 1 SOUND’s FSUB45 floor subs alongside several CANNON C6 loudspeakers,” he said.

Bespoke Technology then moved on to the large bar area with a high-energy late-night vibe. Ayache commented that this was his favourite space to work on; “acoustically, the room required next to no tuning,” he stated. “It’s all curved corners, and the entire room is covered in velvet fabric, so it was built almost perfectly for the addition of a sound system.”

Around the bar, more of the manufacturer’s C6 speakers were deployed. Supporting this are eight SUB310 subwoofers, which the installer revealed are “one of my favourite products from 1 SOUND.”

However, he explained, the implementation of the subs did initially cause challenges with EVELYN’s interior designers. “They didn’t want them anywhere near the ground or the furniture, as they were worried about visual impact. This meant we had to come up with an alternative solution. We just said to them, ‘Trust us, you’re going to love the way this setup looks when we’re done.’”

To overcome this obstacle, Ayache worked with a millworker team to frame out recesses in the ceiling for the subs and speakers to be installed seamlessly above visitors. “We spent a long time ensuring that the kit was perfectly plumb and completely level with the ceiling.”

Further pleasing EVELYN’s designers, the installers were able to take advantage of 1 SOUND’s proprietary Custom Shop. This is a unique feature of the brand wherein clients can ask for their solutions to be delivered in absolutely any colour, texture, plating, or fabric finish, from the body of a speaker itself to the grille covers.

Julia Mannarino, 1 SOUND’s Custom Shop Director, was at the helm of transforming the products to fit the aesthetic of the venue. In collaboration with the interior designers, the Custom Shop matched to the exact shades, and finished the units in seven different colours, allowing them to seamlessly blend into their positions, and fitted fabric grilles, alike the velvet walls, which further make the solutions ‘invisible’. Bronze metal grilles were added to some speakers to suit the luxurious venue.

Ayache said, “Companies like 1 SOUND are few and far between. They allow us to get really creative with our customisation, making them a fantastic partner. Nothing is impossible with Lou Mannarino. Apart from a couple of speakers outside the bathroom, every part of the system for EVELYN has been treated with 1 SOUND Custom Shop.”

For the lounge, a disco and dancing zone, two Contour CT28 point sources were integrated across the bar, and some C6s were positioned across the room’s perimeter to manage delay and echo. This was paired with two SUB215s. “It sounds phenomenal,” Ayache commented.

Amplification was provided by Powersoft Quattrocanalis and Duecanalis. The installer remarked, “Powersoft’s been a great partner to us over the years. It’s always my first choice for amplifiers, so I must have installed hundreds, if not thousands of them. Funnily enough, I’ve only ever had one of their amps stop working, and that was only because it was hit directly by a lightning bolt – the three amps next to it still somehow survived!”

Finally, he continued, Crestron’s CP4 was specified for control. He noted that Bespoke Technology has always been a Crestron house and utilises it for its reliability.

Now, thanks to the partnership between 1 SOUND, Ayache, and his team, EVELYN has opened with excellent reviews and high-fidelity audio. Ayache concluded: “Reach Hospitality was a wonderful client as they gave us so much creative freedom, but they still had a really strong vision. Excitingly, we’re now working on two other projects with them, and obviously, they’re going to be equipped with 1 SOUND solutions!”