The new entry on the Gothenburg skyline is called Kineum, a 28-story glass-and-steel “shining beacon” designed by ReflexArchitects that can be glimpsed from miles away. Inside it houses the building, Jacy’z, a hotel and resort that is the latest brainchild of Swedish hospitality entrepreneurs, ESS Group, and reimagines, in a Nordic key, an exclusive Las Vegas resort with all the opulence and panache, but no slot machines. Guests can choose from three restaurants, a pool club and spa on the highest floors and award-winning conference facilities, a hotel within a hotel on the 17th and 18th floors, a gymnasium and a secret bar. Swedish AV integration experts, InformationsteknikAB were contacted to design and supply all AV and conferencing systems in the building, which includes more than 130 Genelec 4000 Series and Smart IP speakers.
A huge project in every aspect, and the Informationsteknik team was involved from the beginning to ensure the best possible results.
“We were tasked with securing audio and video throughout the hotel,” explains Karl Arnell, key account manager at Informationsteknik. “Bars, gyms, suites, spa restaurants, elevators, hotel corridors and lobbies. Everything would be enhanced with full, quality sound worthy of the hotel’s high ambition.
“ESS Group has a great deal of well-established knowledge regarding audio and design, as well as an extraordinary attention to detail that brings engaging hotel environments to life for guests,” he continues. “Our goal is to fulfill their vision in its entirety, starting from product selection, all the way to technical solutions and control systems-thus creating the best possible solution for guests and customers.”
The first step was to invite ESS to a series of acoustic tests so that they could see and hear the Genelec technology themselves, specifically the 4000 Series and the Smart IP range of installations. Joakim Leissner of Informationsteknik and head of system design, recalls that the customer was immediately pleasantly surprised by what they heard and the aesthetics.
“Their feedback-which has since become a bit of a mantra-was ‘louder.’ We were very happy to meet the demands!”
After demos, it was decided that Genelec systems would be installed in all common areas, restaurants, bars, lounges, conference and training rooms, the hotel suite on the 18th floor, and the gymnasium.
“Music plays a key role in the ESS Group’s hotel experience, and with regard to Jacy’z the intention was to enhance the experience even further,” Leissner explains. “The demos fully convinced the client that Genelec was the brand that could meet their goal.”
Christoffer Laudon of ESS Group, responsible for the audio video part of the Jacy’z project commented:
“We always want to improve. The AV solution designed for Jacy’z comes from inspiration for other hotels-Ellery Beach Housee Steam-where there are high-quality technology and conference rooms.
As for Jacy’z, we wanted to challenge ourselves and raise the bar even higher on audio and video.”
“We looked at all areas and drawings in the building to evaluate possible solutions,” Leissner continues. “We suggested area-by-area products and developed room types that were equipped with the same technical solution. Genelec’s technology fits most common spaces-such as restaurants, bars, and lounges-because of their clean, clear reproduction at both low and high volumes, their shape, and their small size relative to the power output. Room response control controls on the back of each speaker make them easy to configure for optimal performance and are available in a variety of RAL colors. From an integrator’s perspective, Genelec’s signature design is easy to use because it is active-which means no external amplifiers are needed-and we know we can count on solid reliability for years, or decades, to come. In a reality where sustainability is more crucial than ever, this is an important consideration worth making.”
While most of the Genelec speakers used for Jacy’z are part of the 4000 series, there are some areas where Informationsteknik opted for Smart IP speaker networked solutions-specifically the meeting rooms located on the fourth floor and the grand suite, on the 18th floor.
“Smart IP takes the Genelec experience to another level-the convenience of having audio, power and control on a single CAT cable is a huge advantage for integrators,” says Leissner.
“We also appreciated the Smart IP Manager software, which made the detection phase and device configuration simple and straightforward, so we are always up to date on system performance. For us, combining the 4000 series and Smart IP models for this project resulted in a perfect balance of convenience and flexibility on the network.”
In fact, before starting the project, the Informationsteknik team examined each component with design software and documentation.
“We simulated digital sound in all the rooms and surfaces in the hotel,” Leissner notes. “The results led us to opt for patterns, colors and how many of them we needed to achieve sound quality in every corner of the hotel.”
In terms of networking and control, Informationsteknik, provided a server from another brand that supports different protocols to handle all audio traffic and is equipped with expansion cards.
There are nine central music players with soundtracks given to suit different areas that can be directed to any audio zone. A scheduling program that runs in the background adjusts the volume and ensures that the correct source is played in each zone.
Each venue in the hotel has its own DJ panel, so staff can change the source from the music player to the panels as required. The beauty of centralized audio routing is that there may be a DJ playing in the penthouse spa, but you can listen anywhere.
Hakan Bezgin of Informationsteknik was the project manager for Jacy’z. He recalls that with a total of 3000 products, it was a complex project to manage and coordinate with the other contractors involved.
“We were responsible for managing the AV equipment. At the same time, AV is an integral part of the construction phase that it is crucial to be able to coordinate with other subcontractors in construction, electrical utilities , network and operation. Therefore, we had weekly meetings with the whole group. This allowed us to achieve the goal on time, in accordance with the budget and the quality we aimed to deliver.”
This high level of coordination was crucial for a project like Jacy’z, where every detail matters. ESS Group really wanted to maximize EVERYTHING,” Bezgin said. Their vision in terms of appearance and function drove decisions in every detail. They are meticulous and put a lot of attention to what is involved in color and form. It was inspiring to be part of the journey!”
Joakim Leissner agrees:
“Jacy’z is a really great meeting place and destination. And it is the attention to detail that makes it extraordinary. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved here and look forward to executing the same technology project for other Group ESS hotels everywhere.”
