Le Log

Located up a forested mountain hill on the outskirts of Faqra, Lebanon, surrounded by snow for much of the winter, is a restaurant renowned amongst celebrities and politicians, simply known as Le Log. The vista from a glass bay window over the hill includes the historic ruins of the Roman fortress of Faqra.

The owner, Mr. Guy Khoury, was the driving force behind the new restaurant design, in which he specified a central barbecue facility to become the restaurant’s main attraction. The ambiance is in line with the location, in such that wine and hunting are the central characteristic themes, in this rustic retreat with goats’ heads and large wine racks dominating.

The interior designer, Dori Hitti, wanted Le Log to be simply adorned by using three main materials – leather, wood and natural stones. The barbecue is centrally located in Le Log, facing the door of the main entrance. From the focal point of the barbecue, the restaurant has been constructed following a relatively simple geometry. To the left of the barbecue is the bar area are two lateral walls inspired from a wine cave, upon which wine bottles have been aligned to cover both the right and left walls of the bar. Suspended leather lights add a final touch of elegance to this area. To the right of the barbecue area are two chimneys, adjacent to one another, for which in between is a stone covered area and glass bay windows overlooking Faqra. Two chandeliers light up the corners, which are furnished with long tables and hard wood solid chairs. The walls and floor are covered with natural carved stones, called “Forné, whilst some other walls are made of a mixture of hay and clay.

The newly refurbished restaurant now enjoys full bookings throughout the week, for both lunch and dinner, in which diners dance to the music of Charo the DJ.

Owner of the company SPL- Sound Pressure Level and as a Sound Engineer Elie Louaizi was asked to design and install the loudspeaker system in an acoustic setting that suggested resonance would be a problem. As Outline Audio’s distributor for Lebanon, Louaizi sat through a number of preliminary meetings with Mr. Khoury in order to specify the best loudspeakers for the restaurant’s needs. Having made comparisons with several other speakers, the owner was convinced by Louaizi to install twelve Omnia Plus, 200W, 12” speaker cabinets powered by two QSC Audio PLX 3002 amplifiers together with two Outline Victor Live 1,400W double 18” subwoofers powered by a single Crest CA12 amplifier. Two Pioneer CDJ100S and a Pioneer mixer DJM 600 are installed in the DJ area, where a Micra IISP is used as a DJ monitor. All the cables were supplied by the Italian manufacturer, Proel. The sound acoustic problems were eventually solved, although some of the materials such as the extensive glazing could not be compromised, as the windows provide amazing panoramic views across the hills and of the historical ruins. However, modifications could be made to wooden features within the restaurant, as Mr. Louaizi explains. “I suggested that the wooden ceiling would need to be designed in a wavy style. As a result, the wood was positioned unevenly with a series of protrusions and gaps breaking up otherwise straight surfaces, which would have enhanced reflections.” The two entrances, behind the central bar wall, to the main bathroom and the kitchen also helped to eliminate the reflections in the main dining area. Furthermore, the stones were generally jagged and uneven, also helping to diffract the sound. Ultimately, Louaizi’s team could then position the speakers directly at the diners, according to the acoustic analysis results. “The speakers were only positioned in the seated areas and were distributed in a manner that all the diners would hear a relatively even sound dispersion.”

“The main difficulty was to convince Guy Khoury to use Outline, as the brand has rarely been heard of in the local Lebanese market” confessed Louaizi. “However, I have many references that I can point to in the installation market and the

Micra IISP sound test we performed was ultimately a deal clincher.” Having won the contract to design and install the sound system in Le Log, Louaizi first made an acoustic study followed by tests, before deciding where to install the speakers. “With my team, we have installed a sound system which is the best in Lebanon. The outcome is enchanting. Both the floor manager, Mr Bassam Beaini and Mr. Guy Khoury were full of praise and gratitude and if I say it myself, the results were perhaps better than had been expected.” www.outline.it
louaize@cyberia.net.lb