Industrial Avenue

Rather than walking through the lobby of a five-star hotel – the standard way to enter nightclubs in Dubai – customers access Industrial Avenue via a urinal. A dedicated entrance at the side of the Westin hotel leads to a fake toilet that provides the gateway to the venue. From the very start, the clubbing experience here is reminiscent of a secret warehouse party in Berlin, London or New York. But how would the sound system reinforce that feeling?

“The demo proved that the XY-3B speakers were perfect for this project. They deliver a natural sound and they’re so powerful we were able to cover the whole dancefloor with a two-point configuration,” explains Avant Garde’s Ball. In just seven days, his team installed everything from scratch. Dual arrays of XY-3B three-way full range speakers were positioned to the left and right of the DJ booth, with an XY-122 for centre fill and three XY-218S subs bringing the chest-pumping low end. The DJ booth has its own system, with two XY-152 two-way loudspeakers and two XY-118S subs. Everything is driven by Powersoft Amplifiers, which are known for their energy efficient, reliable performance. The installation went smoothly given the short time frame, thanks in part to the club’s near- symmetrical layout. However, the building’s construction did throw up some challenges. “It’s like a concrete bunker,” laughs Ball. “The only things we could use for acoustic absorption were the plaster lined air conditioning ducts and the plumbing in the ceiling. That made the tuning of the space, given the power of the system, quite time consuming but the XY Series speakers helped massively. They’re voiced flat, so you can make them react to the room EQ however you want.”

The support provided by Avant Garde during and after the installation was invaluable, says Industrial Avenue’s Cotier. “In terms of aftercare, I’d give them 12/10. It wasn’t just about business for them, it was almost a passion project. They really wanted to see the club become a success, as did a lot of other creative people in the industry.”

Since its packed-out opening party, Industrial Avenue has hosted four regular nights of underground dance music each week and clubbers from Europe and the USA often comment on how a night out here ‘feels like home’.

The system can deliver SPL A weight levels of 110dB in the centre of the dancefloor with around 8-9dB of headroom left. C weight levels can reach 128dB. “It has the purity of sound that we wanted. And it’s superheavy,” grins Cotier, who loves to see the impact the sound has on his customers and the DJs who come to play on it. “Whenever a new DJ comes in, I take them into the booth, turn it on full power just watch their reaction. It’s always, ‘Woah!’.” Avant Garde’s Ball is equally proud of the system: “We don’t believe there’s a club in Dubai that sounds better than Industrial Avenue.”

But it’s not just the sound on the dancefloor that impresses. The DJ booth can reach 110-112dB with around 3dB of headroom (SPL A-weighted). “I’ve played in clubs around the world – like The Box at Ministry Of Sound London, Room 1 at fabric – but the booth we have here is the best I’ve been in,” says Cotier.

With plenty of room available inside, Industrial Avenue’s rapid success has already led to plans for expansion. Cotier anticipates the sound system growing with the club and he knows what he wants. “We’ll probably double our capacity by summer 2019,” he says. “That means more Pioneer Pro Audio speakers.”