Noto takes its name and inspiration from the Sicilian town in southeastern Italy, known for its Baroque architecture and Mediterranean character. The Jeddah restaurant carries those references into a contemporary setting, pairing southern Italian cuisine with an atmosphere built around warmth, detail and a slower approach to dining.
Sound has a particular place in an environment like this. It needs enough presence to give the restaurant a sense of life, while sitting comfortably alongside conversation and the rhythm of service. The layout was studied with that experience in mind, giving HAV the basis for distributing audio throughout the venue without allowing individual areas to feel disconnected from the rest of the restaurant.
The finished installation uses JBL Control 18C/T loudspeakers as part of the overall distribution, with Control 28-1L units extending the system through other areas of the space. Control HST loudspeakers and JBL SB2 are also incorporated into the design. Their positions form part of a wider system planned around coverage across the restaurant, with the intention that guests experience the music consistently as they move through the venue.
Behind that loudspeaker distribution is a BSS BLU-100M processor with BLU Link. Source and volume control is handled through a BSS EC4BV, allowing the audio system to be managed as part of the restaurant’s day-to-day operation. Crown amplification supports the installation across a number of channels, including XLI 800, XLS 1502, XLS 1002 and XTi 1002 models, together with a CSA 180Z DriveCore amplifier.
The importance of those components is in how they work together in the finished room. Noto is not a space where the audio installation should announce itself. Loudspeaker distribution, system control and amplification all sit behind the experience guests encounter at the table.
The project case study describes the Noto system in terms of architectural integration, zoning and acoustic tuning, with the audio supporting the restaurant from the beginning of the dining experience through to its final course.
That approach suits Noto particularly well. The restaurant’s identity is built on atmosphere as much as visual design: the warmth of southern Italy translated into a contemporary Jeddah setting. Music becomes another part of that composition, carried through the restaurant with enough consistency to connect the space while remaining in proportion to it.
For HAV, the project brought together system design and installation with an understanding of how a hospitality space is actually experienced. The equipment matters, but its success is ultimately heard in the room as a whole.
