The Stock Exchange Hotel has long been an inner city meeting place for Brisbane patrons. The hotel sits in a superb location on the corner of Edward and Charlotte Streets in the CBD. Refurbishment to maximise available space would target what lay behind the walls and open up the roof top space as a beer garden. The existing kitchen was demolished and in its place now stands one of Brisbane’s largest open air decks. Downstairs has been designed as a lounge area for patrons to meet and relax, with plenty of functional space for crowds to move around and dance.

The exterior has had a fresh coat of paint lifting it apart from the grey cityscape of high-rise neighbours. The dado, awning facades, doors and window trimmings were all painted black to contrast with the cream background of the building exterior. Good lighting illuminates the footpath and draws attention to the building. Even the delivery and dispatch gates have been given a facelift by replacing the existing doors with panels in a powdercoat finish featuring a laser cut motif.

Feature lighting by designer Floyd Paxton creates a stunning focal point in the central downstairs area. The contemporary chandelier Zoom is a circular concertina grille that can be adjusted as you wish. From inside the light reflects onto windows that stand between the open air deck and interior.

The main bar is flanked by sturdy dry bars and stools, leaving the central space open for dancing. This is surrounded by lush carpeted areas. Deep shades of red swirl and dance across a black background of. The entire impact is to create a seductive atmosphere for patrons to mingle and socialise. Intricate pressed metal ceiling details are highlighted by contrasting white. The back walls of the bars are illuminated by bold red Perspex and backlighting. Inside the bar fronts are a combination of timber veneer laminate and red honeycomb lumicore. The bars glow like fire embers. Reconstituted stone tops the bars and benches.

A second Zoom chandelier hangs in the dining area, set off by large dark tiles. Timber flooring complements the browns, reds and oranges in the dining furniture and upholstery and keeps the dining space light. Bi-fold windows open along the side allowing the atmosphere from within to filter out onto the street.

As you ascend wide timber stairs, the roof top deck opens to the city lights and evening sky. The warm glow of lighting behind red perspex enlivens the bar area and displays the selection of beverages available. The bar front is bold, its shape complementing that of the bulkhead. Understated outdoor lighting allows patrons to appreciate the 360 degree views of the city.

JVG Sound Lighting & Visual supplied a combination of SDV, Visio and e:cue to the transformation of one of Brisbane’s most iconic luxurious two level venues.

JVG’s Managing Director, Jade Golar says ‘We were approached by The Exchange Hotel as they wanted to refurbish their nineteenth century CBD venue to something more modern and stylish to attract a younger corporate crowd as Brisbane’s nightlife is constantly changing.”

“We wanted to create mood and ambience to the venue, especially around the bars. The best way to illuminate its 4 bars within the venue was with Visio Flexi LED tape as it gives the bars a clean colour changing effect and is great value for money” says Jade.

This is controlled by an e:cue Excite with touch screens. SDV iMove Spot 250 and iMove Wash 250 were used around the dance floor as well as iRock 7 Spot MSD fixtures which are also controlled by e:cue from the DJ’s booth. The iMove Wash 250W is very popular and great value for money and is packed with

features. The iRock 7 Spot MSD are a great looking moving mirror, that can work in conjunction with the iMove Spot 250 yokes, featuring 7 rotating indexible gobos and 9 trapezoid dichroic colours. Jade also specified an e:cue multimedia dongle for their AMX touch screen in each bar for ease of use.

With tasteful designed prints greeting patrons on entry, and colorful wall hugging luxurious couches, the Exchange Hotel has created a relaxing modern atmosphere, while keeping in touch and much loved original charm. The hotel has a large open plan design and boasts real class and style.

“The roof top bar is by far one of the most biggest and striking features to the hotel with views of Brisbane’s CBD”, says Jade. “We specified Visio Flexi LED on this bar as well due to its high intensity and its flexibility.” Visio Flexi LED can also be cut or connected every 5 LEDs (140mm) which is great for any length of area.

A quality design needs quality in other areas particularly audio and so JVG Sound Lighting & Visual didn’t hesitate to recommend a Crown driven JBL sound system.

“JBL has such a good sound and offers a really competitive price,” commented Jade. “We been using JBL powered by Crown on quite a few installs. We’ve also been using BSS digital audio processing a lot as it has a lot of DSP power at a good price point. We’ve been interfacing it into the AMX touch screen system and it’s been working very well.”

Two JBL AM6212/95 speakers are used for the dance floor along with a JBL SRX728 18” sub woofer delivering the volume and clarity required. The speakers are powered by two Crown XTI4000 amplifiers as well as a XTI2000 amplifier.

Outside there are ten Bose DS100 SE, waterproof speakers.

AMX 5”  touch screens have been installed in all three bars with video preview.

Magenta Cat 5 mondo direct video switcher 32×32 switching high def video and serial to each screen. Panasonic commercial plasma screens used in side with Samsung video walls 4X 46” and 4X 40” outside in custom made weatherproof housing.

“The Exchange Hotel is extremely happy with the renovation. They are very happy with all the lighting products supplied and have had such great feedback on their renovation. They now have the power to control their own scenes and moods with lighting effects, which plays a large role when operating the venue. At JVG we are pleased to have played our part in transforming a Brisbane icon,” says Jade.

The Exchange Hotel utilises Nightlife Music + Video’s music, advertising and visual management platform, the HDMS (Hard Drive Music System), as an essential ingredient in its daytime and evening entertainment offering. The Nightlife system provides the venue with customised music for its different areas. Such as video clips for visual entertainment and dj’ing in the downstairs bars, as well as chilled café styled audio tracks for its more relaxed entertainment zones.

The Exchange Hotel also has the Nightlife system set to display ambient visuals (the content for this is supplied in conjunction with MoodTV). This is a new service being offered by Nightlife and is 100% integrated with the Nightlife system. Ambient Visuals are being used on screens throughout the Exchange as an alternative to video clips, complimenting audio only tracks and used in between scheduled advertisements. Essentially, the venue can pick and choose exactly what they’d like to show on their screens and when (music video, advertising or visuals)… and it’s all been pulled together by one solution, the Nightlife system.