The hotel commenced a comprehensive multi-million dollar refurbishment mid last year with new bars, restaurants, beer gardens and function rooms. The final stage was commenced early this year with a complete overhaul of their nightclub "Roxannes". Finished, with costs in excess of $1 million, the new club is called "Pressure Lounge" and is open every Friday and Saturday night. The old club was completely ‘gutted’ and the design began with a clean sheet of paper.

There appears to be a strong trend towards suburban based nightclubs in Brisbane which is not surprising as Brisbane has one of the biggest city land areas in the world. The owners and suppliers of the venue believed that it had to become a showcase venue lifting the standard for all suburban nightclubs.

The design brief called for a sound system that offered first class audio throughout the nightclub. This was achieved by carefully integrating the dance floor system with the room fill system providing a seamless transition between the dance floor and the surrounding areas. The sound quality is consistent throughout the venue. The only variable is sound level.

Another important design consideration was noise control, as the complex is located in close proximity to a residential area. The sound on the dance floor is contained by the use of a 12 cabinet line array system. This approach allows high level audio to be focussed on the dance floor area, thereby reducing spill into adjacent areas. Room fill speakers are carefully positioned and aimed to maximise coverage with minimum spill.

The massive power for the system comes in the form of six Ecler DT6800 digital power amplifiers, each capable of delivering 6640 Watts. Power for the room fill speakers is provided by two Ecler DT4800 amplifiers. All system processing is taken care of by two Ecler DP300 Digital Loudspeaker Management Processors. With a total of 12 output channels, the processors offer full control over all system parameters including gain, cross-over, equalisation, time alignment and limiting. Password protection safeguards the audio system from ‘would be experts’, ensuring only authorised personnel can make any adjustments.

The impressive DJ box sets a new benchmark and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment: an Ecler SCLAT200 8 Channel Modular DJ Club Mixer, an Ecler NUO 5 Performance DJ Mixer, two Denon DNS3000 CD Turntables and two Technics SL1200 MKII Turntables. The Club mixer is the control centre for the audio system while the Performance mixer gives creative DJ’s an edge to show off their skills.