Post production company Suite TV has expanded its audio facilities by installing a state of the art White Mark-designed 5.1 studio at its premises in London.

Established 15 years ago, Suite TV has built up an impressive client list covering a wide range of broadcast work, but with a strong emphasis on comedy drama and entertainment programmes.

90% of its clients are broadcast production companies such as Hungry Bear (All Round To Mrs Browns); Avalon (Man Down and Not Going Out); Objective (Game Face) and 7 Wonder (Billy Connolly).

It also handles post production for hugely successful shows such as Celebrity Juice, People Just Do Nothing and The Office.

“We spent a lot of time with them looking for a space within the building where we could achieve isolation from their other operations,” said White Mark managing director David Bell, speaking to AMI.

“We also needed sufficient size of space to allow a decent monitoring environment, air conditioning and visual [sight lines] to the screen.”

At the centre of the room, used by head of audio and senior dubbing mixer Simon Wright, is a Euphonics MC5 Pro console with sound reinforcement in a 5.1 configuration with switchable rear speakers for mixing or client position. The front speakers are Genelec 1237As with a Genelec 7370 sub. Surrounds are Genelec 8340s.

“I wanted Genelecs, but I had no idea about what size they needed to be for this room,” said Wright. “That was when White Mark stepped in and said, ‘Right, for this size room you need that’. They were very helpful from that point of view.

The decision to add a fourth audio studio was based on sound commercial grounds, says Suite TV chairman Julian Aston.

“We had been planning to add a new studio for some time as our existing three audio suites were regularly filling up with work. Also, many of our clients wanted a bigger and more spacious facility.”

To create space for the new studio at its Newman Street premises, Suite TV assigned a room in the loft that was formerly used for grading. Acoustic design consultancy White Mark was called in the tackle the project because of their experience in audio facility design.

“We spent a lot of time talking with a number of audio specialists, but finally chose White Mark as they were clearly the market leaders and inspired confidence at every stage of the project,” Aston said. “White Mark provided a turnkey service and we used their recommended builders, Woodstock Joinery, as well as a design consultant, Cann Creative Ltd. It was a very smooth and seamless project, which was delivered on time and budget.”

David Bell, managing director of White Mark Ltd, added: “This was a challenging project given the rooftop location of the studio space. Working with Nichola McCann, of Cann Creative, was very rewarding with her interior design input questioning our normal approach to all aspects of the project. This has resulted in a sonically excellent space that is both individual in appearance and an extremely comfortable and visually appealing workspace.”