Saint Paul’s Market
Saint Paul’s Market is a 500-capacity food hall in the heart of Birmingham, bringing together seven independent kitchens and two bars under one roof. The venue, set within a converted warehouse, was created by the team behind Liverpool’s Baltic Market and designed to combine great food, social atmosphere, and high-energy weekend events in one versatile space.
We were appointed to help design, install, and commission a complete sound system that would deliver consistent, high-quality audio throughout the venue whilst remaining sympathetic to its open, family-friendly environment.
Objectives
The owners wanted music to be a defining part of the experience, and vibrant enough to energise the space, but balanced so guests could still socialise comfortably.
Their goals were to:
Create a party-style atmosphere without turning the venue into a club.
Ensure clear, even sound coverage across multiple kitchens, bars, and seating areas.
Integrate a flexible control system that could handle DJs at weekends and background playlists during the week.
Keep the installation aesthetically discreet within the industrial warehouse setting.
Provide easy day-to-day control for the management team.
Challenges
Transforming an old warehouse into a lively yet comfortable dining space posed several acoustic and practical challenges.
With its high ceilings and hard, reflective surfaces, the warehouse presented significant acoustic challenges. Although acoustic insultation and treatment were not part of our remit on this project, we were still more than able to address these issues, through a system design that used precise speaker placements and tuning to maintain clarity and consistency across the venue.
Noise from seven active kitchens and large extraction systems added further problems. To overcome this, we specified a higher number of speakers than usual to help ensure coverage despite the ambient background noise.
As part of a larger fit-out delivered by Dawnvale, we worked closely with a number of other trades to synchronise on installation timings and on-site activity. With a lot of public excitement growing around the opening of this venue, and an opening party scheduled for a specific date, there was a tight deadline to finish the project. Despite the busy worksite, the collaboration demonstrated was an essential part in making sure this deadline was met and the venue opened successfully on time.
Approach
The project originated through our contacts at Wharfedale Pro, whose GPL series speakers and DSP-driven digital amplifiers were chosen by the venue owners for their control, power, higher audio quality and overall stronger performance in commercial installations as opposed to more standard, less-expensive alternatives. Having already experienced the system the clients were confident in its capability and our task was to integrate, configure, and optimise it for the venue.
Using the architects’ plans as a foundation, our team were able to see the initial intentions for the venue’s spaces and then work to design a layout for the speaker system via a series of audio “heatmaps”. This allowed us to plot the precise placement of each speaker to maximise its coverage within the venue.
For system control, we implemented the AtlasIED Atmosphere platform. This gives us control to define multiple audio zones, DSP for sonic management and scheduling tools. We programmed control interfaces to make daily operation intuitive for the venue’s staff. This included a QR-code-based staff login system which enables them to manage the venue from their mobile phones. The platform also gives us a suite of tools to be able to remotely support the audio installation and troubleshoot issues without the need to be on-site.
Music playback is handled through Soundtrack (Spotify for Business) for day to day use which is complemented by a Pioneer DJ system, Bluetooth connectivity, and a paging system for announcements which can be scheduled at specific times just as easy as the music playlists can. Each zone, from the main seating area to the mezzanine and entrances, has been fine-tuned for its acoustic profile, maintaining an even flow as guests move through the space.
During commissioning, the system was calibrated to stay within safe decibel limit with attention paid to areas like the bar where conversations and speech intelligibility are critical.
Results
The finished system delivers clear, balanced sound throughout the venue which is lively enough to energise the atmosphere but controlled enough for guests to talk, and staff to work, comfortably. DJs can plug straight into the house system on weekends, whilst background playlists run automatically at other times, freeing staff from manual setup.
Since opening, Saint Paul’s Market has drawn huge crowds with thousands of visitors through its doors in the first weeks alone. Feedback from the venue and customers alike has been overwhelmingly positive online - praising the lively yet comfortable ambience.
The system we’ve implemented allows us to continually adapt it to the venue’s on-going needs and we are working with their staff by taking their feedback and delivering on the fine-tuning of the system for their easy management. Our execution of this installation has also left the venue with enough headroom on their system to adapt and grow as the venue’s needs adjust. In all, we are pleased have delivered a bespoke and professional system that will serve Saint Paul’s Market for many years to come.