This project won Electronics & Engineering the Leisure & Entertainment Project category of the Inavate APAC Awards 2024! Find out how the integrator fitted the venue out with audio, video, and lighting solutions, to help it become one of Singapore’s premier lifestyle destinations.
Tipsy Unicorn is a lifestyle venue established at Sentosa beach in Singapore looking to change how entertainment is conceived and delivered for modern audiences and patrons. To fit the facility with the requisite audio, video, and lighting solutions, Electronics & Engineering was appointed as the integrator.
Gary Goh, CEO for Electronics & Engineering, starts the conversation by discussing how the integrator came onboard: “Tipsy Collective is a new client, and this is a design and build project which we won as a tender. Our job was to make sure that the venue had the right technology to help it achieve its goal of being a premier lifestyle and entertainment destination in Singapore.”
He continues: “The owners were very clear with what they wanted from the very beginning. They wanted to do a beach club like no other in Singapore and they wanted the venue to be able to scale all the way up to a music festival type of event. To achieve this, we needed to make sure that the audio and the video systems were able to match their ambition. They wanted to go big.”
Starting with audio, JBL line arrays serve as the main speaker system for Tipsy Unicorn. The selection was made with careful consideration as Goh says: “We wanted something directional after surveying the location. Tipsy Unicorn is next to Siloso Beach Resort which is a hotel and there were concerns that there would be sound pollution and disturbances. We took this into account in the design and the line arrays were specifically used to make sure that the sound was directed towards the beach and the audience.”
Around the Tipsy Unicorn venue, Harman Professional audio solutions are used. Goh details: “When it came to audio, we had complete confidence in the Harman Professional solution consisting of JBL speakers, Crown amplifiers, and BSS DPS. We knew that this audio system would be capable of handling everything and more. With our designed Harman Professional audio solution, we are able to create that heavy and punchy ‘club’ sound that Tipsy Unicorn wanted.”
He continues: “Specifically, we have built in additional headroom for the audio system. I would say that on a regular day, they are using approximately 40% to 50% of the system’s capabilities. But when they have an event that has a guest DJ performance for example, the audio system can scale up to match the requirements of the event. In fact, events at Tipsy Unicorn can extend out of the venue onto the beach as well and the audio system we have designed and deployed takes this into account to provide them complete coverage.”
Audio signals are transmitted via Blu-link and Dante. Goh comments: “We have built in redundancy with both digital and analogue backbones being deployed. We always recommend redundancy, and I personally don’t like to have a single point of failure for systems. The client understood the value behind this suggestion. Tipsy Unicorn puts on a show and the show must go on. They operate seven days a week so to have the redundancy built in helps ensure that they can continue to remain open.”
Allen & Heath SQ mixers and Shure ULXD wireless microphone systems complete the audio system for live music performances and events both in the indoor and outdoor spaces.
Goh offers a last point of explanation about the functioning of the audio system: “We have run tielines and provided the infrastructure so for bigger events you can extend the FOH. At the moment, they are running everything off an iPad but for bigger festivals they have the ability to extend the FOH out into the space to cater for larger crowds.”
On the visual side, we have Unilumin LED videowalls that display content and create an impact. Goh explains the selection of the LED: “We’ve been working with Unilumin for a while, and they have supported us well on past projects. Our experience with Unilumin LED products has been great in the past which gave us the confidence to use them for Tipsy Unicorn. We knew that the product would be installed outdoors, and we took this into account when selecting the LED tiles and products.”
He continues: “The LED videowalls were custom built for Tipsy Unicorn as per their direction and this is why you see nonstandard shapes for the displays such as the crown and the LED clad around the DJ booth on stage. They have their own content team that ensures that the displays are used to their full potential.”
PCs running Resolume software push out content for the various LED displays.
AMX SVSI encoders and decoders are used for transmitting video signals over IP to video displays in the VIP suites. AV over IP was specifically used to address the distances video signals had to travel across the venue.
With Tipsy Unicorn open for patrons, Goh reflects on the successful completion of the project and concludes: “This is the first beach club of this scale in Singapore, and it was a great experience working with the owners at Tipsy Collective to help them achieve their vision of building a first of its kind beach club in Singapore. Audio, video, and lighting, have all been prioritised because they were essential to create the atmosphere and the vibe that the owners wanted. It was an interesting challenge to design and deploy the audio system within the constraints of the space and location while still hitting the performance requirements for the venue.”
David Gan, co-founder and executive chairman, Tipsy Collective, shared: “Every customer that has walked in has been giving us so much positive feedback about how great the sound system is. Personally, I think it is a great system and I am very proud and glad that we have it installed at Tipsy Unicorn.”